- #1
real
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any testing solution or other method that can test for the sweetness of some substance. I mean except using the mouth.
How to test for the sweetness of substance?
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Discussion Overview
The discussion revolves around methods to test for the sweetness of substances, exploring both subjective and objective approaches. Participants consider various techniques, including statistical sampling and the use of refractometry, while addressing the inherent subjectivity of sweetness perception.
Discussion Character
- Exploratory
- Technical explanation
- Debate/contested
Main Points Raised
- Some participants suggest that sweetness is subjective and requires both subjective testing and statistical analysis to determine.
- One participant mentions Brix refractometry as a method for measuring sweetness in solutions known to contain sugar, such as fruit juice and wine.
- Another participant raises the challenge of measuring sweetness in sweeteners that do not contain sugar, emphasizing the need for subjective assessment.
- A participant questions how scientists quantify the sweetness of sweeteners that are reported to be significantly sweeter than sucrose, noting the lack of absolute units for sweetness measurement.
- It is noted that sweetness data is often expressed relative to sucrose, and that large panels of tasters are used to create a relative scale based on dilution series.
- A reference is provided indicating that no laboratory instruments can definitively measure sweetness, reinforcing the reliance on human taste and averaging results from multiple tasters.
Areas of Agreement / Disagreement
Participants generally agree that sweetness is subjective and that measuring it involves statistical sampling. However, there are competing views on the methods and reliability of these measurements, particularly regarding sweeteners without sugar.
Contextual Notes
The discussion highlights limitations in measuring sweetness, including the dependence on subjective taste tests and the absence of absolute units for sweetness. The methods discussed rely on relative comparisons to sucrose and the averaging of subjective assessments from tasters.
- #2
real
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any people can help on this problem?
- #3
GCT
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it's kind of a weird suggestion, sweetness is subjective, in order to determine whether a substance is "sweet" you'll need to test it subjectively and statistically.
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- #5
real
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how about measure the sweetness of the sweetener?
i doesn't contain any sugar.
i doesn't contain any sugar.
- #6
Ouabache
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GCT summed that up very well, it is subjective and requires a statistical sampling by tasters (just like grading the quality of tea after a harvest).real said:
- #7
real
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then why i can find the detail that some sweeteners are about 100times sweetness of sucrose, and some is about 1000 times. how can the scientist get this kind of value?
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Ouabache
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http://www.science.edu.sg/ssc/detailed.jsp?artid=67&type=6&root=3&parent=3&cat=30
There are no laboratory instruments to perform the task, no absolute or even arbitrary units of sweetness. Instead we have to rely on the human tongue and the hope that if we average the findings of large numbers of tongues we can obtain useful data. The data scientists obtain will still not be in absolute units but will be expressed relative to some arbitrary standard, usually sucrose.
The above reverence agrees with my and GCT's assesment that further measurement is purely subjective (following the underlined hyperlink).
A typical way a panel assess sweetness is to make a dilution series of the solution. (10:1, 100:1, 1000:1 etc...) At some dilution, the entire panel will no longer taste any sweetness. A relative scale is constructed based on this taste test. (similarly http://www.garlic-central.com/chiles/scoville.html Units were developed to measure heat (spicey) units).
There are no laboratory instruments to perform the task, no absolute or even arbitrary units of sweetness. Instead we have to rely on the human tongue and the hope that if we average the findings of large numbers of tongues we can obtain useful data. The data scientists obtain will still not be in absolute units but will be expressed relative to some arbitrary standard, usually sucrose.
The above reverence agrees with my and GCT's assesment that further measurement is purely subjective (following the underlined hyperlink).
A typical way a panel assess sweetness is to make a dilution series of the solution. (10:1, 100:1, 1000:1 etc...) At some dilution, the entire panel will no longer taste any sweetness. A relative scale is constructed based on this taste test. (similarly http://www.garlic-central.com/chiles/scoville.html Units were developed to measure heat (spicey) units).
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