A Pilot Study on Sensory Evaluation of Commercial Yogurt Products by Italian Middle School Pupils

Abstract

This article reports on a pilot experiment conducted on STEM teaching (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) within the context of orientation teaching, wherein young pupils take on the role of “young researchers”. Twenty-six pupils participated in this research, and 18 of them evaluated 20 commercial yogurts (banana, vanilla, strawberry, and plain yogurt). They assessed acidity, sweetness, odor, texture, taste, and overall acceptability using a 5-point scale. Data were analyzed through non-parametric tests, box-whisker plots, and Principal Component Analysis. Statistics point out that for teenagers, overall acceptability was directly related to sweetness (0.695), odor (0.587), and taste (0.861), and indirectly related to acidity (−0.517). In addition, non-parametric tests show high variability within the dataset, with a non-normal distribution of sensory scores.

Keywords

• middle school
• yogurt
• sensory analyses
• orientation teaching
• pedagogical innovation