Development of a preliminary sensory lexicon for floral honey

The aim of this research was to develop a sensory vocabulary to describe floral honey from the south region of Spain (Andalucia). Principal component analysis has been used as a basis for excluding attributes that are not being used to differentiate among honeys or to describe the main sensory characteristics of each product. Fifteen descriptors were selected by PCA: four for odour (overall intensity, floral, ripen fruit, green grass and candy); three terms for texture (viscosity, gumminess and granularity); six for flavour (overall intensity, floral, ripen fruit, acid taste, bitter taste and sweet taste) and one attribute for trigeminal sensations (piquancy). The attributes are presented together with reference standards. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.