Create a study
The 5-step wizard to set up a shelf-life study, from identification to time-point planning.
Goal
Set up a shelf-life study: identify it, define the storage conditions, choose which attributes to track along with their threshold, and plan the time points at which the product will be evaluated.
Access path
- URL:
https://app.areacacao.com/sensory-analysis/studies/shelf-life/new - How to get there: in Shelf-life studies, click New study (or Create first study if you don't have any).
Pro plan and above.
The wizard
The wizard has a step indicator (stepper) that shows Step X of 5 with each step's title. In the footer you have the Back and Next buttons; on the last step, Create study.
Steps
Step 1 — Identification
- Study title (required): e.g. 70% dark chocolate — storage Q1 2026.
- Description (optional).
- Recipe (optional): the associated recipe's identifier.
- Batch (optional): the associated batch's identifier.
Today the Recipe and Batch fields are text fields where you paste the identifier by hand; there's no search or selector. They're optional: if you don't have the identifier handy, leave them empty.
Step 2 — Storage conditions
Define the environment in which the product will be kept during the study:
- Temperature (°C) (required, default 20; allowed range -40 to 80).
- Relative humidity (%) (required, default 60; 0 to 100).
- Light exposure (required): Darkness, Indirect light or Direct light.
- Packaging (optional): e.g. PVC blister, polyethylene bag.
Step 3 — Target attributes and thresholds
Select the attributes to be evaluated at each time point and, for each one, the minimum acceptable threshold (0 to 10, default 5). Check the box for each attribute you want to track and adjust its threshold.
The sensory regression will alert you when an attribute's curve crosses its threshold.
If no attribute appears, you'll see a notice that you need to create attributes in the Attributes module before starting the study.
Step 4 — Time planning
Define the evaluation schedule:
- Start date (required).
- Duration (days) (required, default 90; 1 to 730).
- Frequency (days) (required, default 30).
From these three values, AreaCacao generates and previews the Generated points (N) table with the columns point number, day (T+0, T+30…) and scheduled date. Points are auto-generated on day 0 and then every N days until the duration is covered.
Step 5 — Confirmation
Review the study summary grouped into four blocks: Identification, Storage conditions, Target attributes (with their threshold) and Planning (Start, Duration, Frequency and estimated end). If any required field is missing, you'll see the notice Some fields are still missing.
Click Create study.
Expected result
The study is created and AreaCacao takes you to its detail screen, with the time points already scheduled. From there, evaluate the product at each point and review the decay curve and the regression. See Regression and threshold.