Functional & Sensory Properties Analysis Report On Lemon Meringue Pie

Resource Description

Sensory characteristics of the Lemon Meringue Pie Sensory characteristics of food include appearance, aroma, flavour, texture and sound. Together they create variety and appeal to our five main senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste.

Appearance relates to the colour, shape, size and surface texture of a food product. We usually assess a food by its appearance before anything else. The lemon meringue pie is split into three layers: meringue, lemon filling and shortcrust pastry. The appearance of the meringue is white, airy, foamy, shiny and opaque with golden brown patterned stiff peaks. This is because the egg whites (which are white in colour) are whipped, which adds air to the mixture. The added sugar makes the egg whites shiny and glossy. While cooking, the tips of the egg white peaks turn golden brown due to the dry heat. The filling of the lemon meringue pie is jelly-like, translucent and smooth. It is also yellow due to the lemon juice, lemon rind, butter and egg yolk. The pastry is thin and flat due to being rolled out using a rolling pin. During baking, the edges turn golden brown.

Aroma refers to the smell of food, which can stimulate your appetite.When chemicals found in food escape into the air, molecules travel into the nose and reach olfactory cells which transmit signals to the olfactory bulb in the brain. When food is heated these chemicals are easily evaporated making the aroma more noticable. Lemon meringue pie has a very mild smell. The pastry smells buttery due to the margarine and slightly sweet and burnt due to dry heat breaking down starch in the flour into dextrins. The filling smells citrusy and tangy due to lemon rind and juice and the meringue has a slightly sweet and eggy smell due to the cooked sugar and egg whites.

Flavour is the most important sensory characteristic when it comes to choosing foods and is the most-remembered aspect of eating. Flavour is a combination of the aroma and taste of foods. When food enters the mouth it is chewed and mixed with saliva, which contains
an enzyme called amylase. Saliva dissolves the chemicals that produce flavour. The surface of the tongue is covered in papillae which contain taste buds. When a flavour enters a taste pore the sensory cells analyse the flavour and then the nerve fibres send this information to the brain. Salt is used to enhance flavour. The pastry in lemon meringue pie is ‘short’ meaning it has a high ratio of fat to flour. The high amount of fat makes the pastry taste rich and buttery. The filling tastes lemony and citrusy due to the use of lemon juice and rind as well as sweet due to the added sugar. This combination of sour and sweet makes the filling taste tart and tangy. The meringue is sweet and caramelised due to dry heat in the baking process as well as slightly eggy due to the egg whites.