VIEW ARTICLE    DOI: 10.1094/ASBCJ-36-0073

Flavor Thresholds of Added Substances. D. G. W. Brown, J. F. Clapperton, M. C. Meilgaard, and M. Moll. J. Am. Soc. Brew. Chem. 36:0073, 1978.

In preparation for collaborative studies by the ASBC and the EBC, published methods were reviewed and three of these were tested in three laboratories to determine the principles on which threshold determinations can be based. The frequency distribution for individual assessors was found to be skewed toward the high side. According to their thresholds for dimethyl sulfide added to beer and to 3.5% ethanol, 85-90% of each panel formed a "normal" group showing a range of 1-10 while the remainder formed a separate "low-sensitivity" group with thresholds 10-20 times higher again. The limited data obtained showed no relationship between degree of sensitivity and age, sex, smoking habits, and probably, ethnic origin. With untrained panelists, results were scattered and often 2-3 times too high; training with each substance required 3-6 sittings. The threshold for added diacetyl increased from 0.10 to 0.30 mg/L in beers containing from 0.03 to 0.33 mg/L of "endogenous" diacetyl. For added DMS, values were from 27 to 60 µg/L in beers containing 28-60 µg/L of endogenous DMS.

Keywords: Collaborative-test, Diacetyl, Dimethyl-sulfide, Taste-Threshold-Value.