Discrimination and sensory characterization of Protected Designation of Origin Salers- and Cantal-type cheeses: An approach using descriptive analysis and consumer insights by check-all-that-apply questions

Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Salers and Cantal are two French uncooked semi-hard cheeses. Despite a quite similar cheese-making process, both types of cheeses exhibit specific sensory attributes. Salers and Cantal cheeses are produced with either Salers milk or with milk from "other cow breeds." The aim of this study is to evaluate the specific sensory properties in order to differentiate both types of cheese: Cantal versus Salers combining a consumer test (n = 152) using the CATA method and a sensory profile with a trained panel (n = 9). Ten cheeses (Salers cheeses; n = 6 and Cantal cheeses; n = 4) were selected, after 12 months of ripening and storage in the same maturing cellar. A clear discrimination of Cantal cheeses and Salers cheeses was achieved by using sensory and CATA terms. More precisely, Cantal cheeses were characterized by their texture, whereas Salers cheeses were differentiated by aromatic profile and appearance. The CATA method offers a good description of cheeses (14 attributes out of 16 were discriminant) even if consumer preference scores were slightly close. Although the sensory profile allows a more detailed product characterization than CATA terms, both methods provided similar information about the sensory characterization. Overall, these results suggest the validity of CATA method and once again, show the interest of using it for the sensory characterization by consumers applied on cheese samples with subtle differences. Practical Applications The findings of this study are useful for French artisanal cheese producers as they make it possible to use a sensory approach to differentiate cheese categories from different cheese-making process. This sensory distinction contributes to the improvement of qualities of PDO French cheeses. Hence, these specific sensory attributes could be useful to the supply chain to communicate and to better explain to consumers the sensory differences between these two cheese categories, which are sometimes poorly distinguished by consumers during purchase. In addition, the good agreement between sensory profile and the CATA method demonstrated similarities about the sensory description of cheeses. In spite of the fact that the liking scores were very close between the cheeses, consumers were able to distinguish the Salers and Cantal cheeses by using the CATA method.