Effect of different CATA ballots on the overall acceptance of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) infusion

Check-all-that-apply (CATA) questions are a descriptive technique in which panellists have to choose from a ballot with a list of terms those that better describe samples. The aim of the present work is to study the effect of applying different CATA ballots on the overall acceptance of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) tea. For this purpose, sensory (list of 84 sensory attributes divided into four dimensions: appearance, odor, texture and flavor) and emotional (list of 29 emotions) profiles CATA ballots [1] were used by two panels of 75 naïve panelists. For each panel, four infusions were prepared following a factorial plan according to type of cut and area of the plant. The infusions were prepared with selected leaves of organic Cymbopogon citratus plant, using 4.5g of dried leaves infused in 1.5L of natural mineral water for 8.5 minutes at 99ºC [2]. For each panel, samples were presented in a sequential monadic mode, to compensate for order effects [3], with each infusion being evaluated for overall acceptance (on a 9-point scale), followed by the evaluation of the sensory or of the emotional profile. Acceptance data was analyzed following a 5-factor ANOVA (type of ballot, type of cut, area of the plant, order of presentation and panelists as a random factor). Results show that the order of presentation is the most significant fixed factor (p <0.0005), with the first sample presenting an average acceptance of 0.40±0.07 points above all the other three presentation orders. The type of ballot had a low impact (p = 0.062) on the overall acceptance of the infusions: data obtained with the emotional CATA was slightly higher (7.84±0.08) then data obtained with the sensory CATA (7.60±0.08). Framing of the overall acceptance with different profiles has no significant impact, at 95 % confidence level, on the acceptance itself, and clearly below the impact of the well know first-order carry-over Effect.