Sensory evaluation methods in food science: Principles, applications, and recent advances

Sensory evaluation is a core discipline in food science, providing systematic approaches to measure, analyze, and interpret human responses to food attributes. Sensory methods play a critical role in product development, quality control, shelf-life assessment, and consumer acceptance studies. As food systems become increasingly complex—driven by innovation in processing technologies, functional foods, and alternative protein sources—the need for robust and adaptable sensory methodologies has grown substantially. This review presents a comprehensive overview of sensory evaluation methods used in food science, focusing on fundamental principles, methodological applications, and recent advances in sensory research. Classical sensory approaches, including discrimination, descriptive, and consumer-based methods, are discussed alongside emerging rapid, dynamic, and data-driven techniques. The integration of sensory data with instrumental and physicochemical analyses is also examined as a strategy to improve product characterization and predictive quality assessment. By synthesizing recent literature, this review highlights methodological strengths, limitations, and future directions in sensory science, providing a practical reference for researchers and food industry professionals.