Development of a picture-scale-questionnaire to assess liking for fatty, salty, sweet, and umami seasonings compared to a sensory evaluation for Japanese consumers

PrefQuest is a web-based questionnaire that measures the liking for sweet, fatty-sweet, salty, and fatty-salty sensations using combinations of images of French food items. We adapted the original PrefQuest questionnaire for Japanese respondents (J-PrefQuest). J-PrefQuest comprises 17 Japanese food items categorized into four sensations: fatty, salty, sweet, and umami. Participants responded by indicating their preferred level of seasoning for each food item on a 6-point scale. Segmentation of 161 respondents identified groups who preferred: (a) high amount of umami seasonings; (b) low amount of umami seasonings; (c) high amount of fatty and low amount of salty seasonings. To validate the questionnaire, 70 female university students were recruited for a sensory evaluation of five levels of seasoning used for six food items on a 9-point hedonic scale before completing the questionnaire. The validity of J-PrefQuest questionnaire was then analyzed by comparing the two results. Practical applicationsMeasuring personal preference or liking for the taste of food items is important as such information may contribute to the prevention of various diseases and improve the quality of life of consumers. We developed a simple questionnaire with pictures to evaluate the liking for fatty, salty, sweet, and umami sensations of Japanese respondents. This questionnaire focuses on typical seasonings added to different Japanese food items and provides objective information about liking different food sensations. Thus, it has application as an important screening tool to identify respondents who may need to make their food consumption behavior more healthy. Moreover, following minor modifications, this questionnaire could also be used in other Asian countries where plain white rice is the stable food.