Scholar Series: Allison Brown, PhD Candidate in Food Science and International Agriculture and Development

Description: An interview as part of the Well Tempered Podcast’s ‘Scholar Series’ (recorded February 2020)
Guest: Allison Brown, PhD candidate at Penn State 
Area of study: Food Science and International Agriculture and Development

Allison Brown is a PhD candidate and USDA NIFA (United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture) predoctoral fellow studying a dual-title degree in Food Science and International Agriculture and Development at The Pennsylvania State University. She studies cocoa and chocolate using chemical and sensory analysis to fingerprint the flavor, taste, and mouthfeel of varieties of Theobroma cacao. In addition, she led a consumer research project to understand the importance of chocolate flavor to premium chocolate consumers. For the international agriculture and development portion of her PhD, she studies the impact of an in-country national cocoa sensory panel on cocoa quality, using Honduras as a case study. She draws on professional experience in food science product development, chocolate production, culinary arts, winery cellar work, and winery laboratory work. 

Most recently she has published work in The Journal of Sensory Studies, entitled "Flavor and Mouthfeel of Pseudo-Cocoa Liquor:  Effects of Polyphenols, Fat Content, and Training Method". 

Citation: Hamada, T. Y., Brown, A., Hopfer, H., & Ziegler, G. R. (2019). Flavor and mouthfeel of pseudo-cocoa liquor : Effects of polyphenols, fat content, and training method, (June), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1111/joss.12541 (Note: at the time of this podcast episode’s release, this article was available to access for free).

Her manuscript about premium chocolate consumer perception of chocolate quality and craft chocolate is currently under review.

UPDATE December 2020: Since release of this podcast episode Allison’s and her colleagues’ work ‘Understanding American premium chocolate consumer perception of craft chocolate and desirable product attribute using focus groups and projective mapping’ has been featured in PLoSONE. Their research was also referenced on Penn State’s news site.

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“ …(sensory evaluation) it’s not actually elite, it’s for the people. We all have these tools…we have our mouths. “ - Allison Brown 

Allison Brown, PhD Candidate in Food Science and International Agriculture and Development. photo credit: Allison Brown

Topics discussed in this episode:

Part I. We talk about different types of food analyses: 
-Chemical analysis: GC-MS, HPLC
-Sensory evaluation: hedonic testing (i.e. do you like this thing?), difference testing (i.e. are these different? triangle test), descriptive analysis testing (i.e. how are these things different?); the 3rd is used in Allison’s panel.

- Tasting cocoa liquors, creating references to other food products

- Attribute generation = key-in to your senses, looks, smells, tastes like (ensure air is present to volatilize chemical compounds), perceive flavor, then note aftertaste, oral touch

- The 5 basic tastes: bitter, sour, sweet, salty, umami
—-> Receptors versu