Learning about extra virgin olive oil > Quality > Sensory analysis > Sight

The sight of a foodstuff may give rise in all of us to a whole series of unconditioned  reactions, we are thinking of the stimulus of hunger or even the stimulus of appetite! If we do not see what we are eating, we may be mistrustful; if you try to put some food in your mouth with your eyes blindfolded, it is natural to be hesitant.

The colour of foods is certainly the most important visual characteristic and it can have fundamentally important psychological effects; having on your plate a blue or purple food could put us off trying it, whereas a cream coloured or pale brown food will certainly give strong stimulation.

In oil tasting, there are contrasting opinions on the necessity of a visual evaluation. Those who have experience knows that a visual judgment is not fundamental, but merits and demerits of an extra-virgin oil may be noted in this way; shaking the oil in the bottle gives some interesting indications on its cleanliness and roundness; a sample that tends to orange will point to an incipient state of oxidation.

Those who have experience of oil knows well that visual judgment is not fundamental but through it, merits and defects of an extra virgin can be noted; shaking the oil in the bottle can, for example, give us some interesting indications on the cleanliness and the “roundness” of the oil.

People who have no experience of oil tasting would be well advised to taste the oil without seeing its colour: the first tastings may be conditioned by our habits as consumers, so we will always tend to avoid oils which are too green or too yellow as they do not respond to our standards.

A particular organoleptic characteristic of foods which is evaluated through hearing, smell, taste but above all, the sensation in the oral cavity is the determination of  “consistency”. In this general evaluation mastication and salivary secretions are also involved: all these sensations, more or less conditioned, define the rheology of a foodstuff.

In tasting an oil, mastication does not play a fundamental role: however the presence of astringent substances is important as they may bring about the precipitation of proteins contained in saliva and confer that characteristic sensation that one has on eating an unripe fruit when the saliva no longer lubricates the mouth.

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