An international ring trial for the sensory evaluation of raw ewes’ milk cheese texture

A total of nine Protected Designation of Origin hard and semi-hard cheese varieties were selected for this study, all made with raw ewes’ milk. The cheeses selected were Idiazabal and Roncal from Spain, Ossau-Iraty from France, and Pecorino Sardo, Pecorino Romano and Fiore Sardo from Italy. This ring trial was designed as a first step to validate a consensually designed standardized guide for ewes’ milk hard and semi-hard cheese texture evaluation and assess main differences among five sensory panels using this guide. Several univariate and multivariate statistical techniques were employed for data treatment. Each of the sensory attributes was relevant and understood similarly by all the panelists. The sensory attributes more relevant to the discrimination of the cheeses were friability, adhesiveness, solubility and moisture in mouth. The development of standardized and consensual sensory tools has been proven to provide consistent results among the participating panels.