Record a checkpoint tasting

What it is

When you create a shelf-life study, AreaCacao generates its checkpoint schedule: the dates on which you need to taste the same product again. This screen is where you log what your panel scored at each of those checkpoints.

Every checkpoint with data is one point on the curve. With three or more, the app can fit the per-attribute regression and tell you the day your product crosses the threshold you defined.

How to get there

From the study page, in the Study checkpoints section, each checkpoint has its own Record tasting button.

• URL: https://app.areacacao.com/sensory-analysis/studies/shelf-life/{study}/puntos/{checkpoint}

How to record

The study lead logs the scores one panelist at a time. That is how a small workshop actually works: the panel tastes together and one person collects the results.

1. Pick who is tasting. The dropdown lists your panelists. Anyone who already has scores at this point is flagged as already recorded.
2. Score each target attribute from 0 to 10. Next to each one you will see its threshold according to the deterioration direction you chose when creating the study: Minimum acceptable (if it worsens going down) or Maximum tolerable (if it worsens going up) and, as soon as you enter a value, the distance to that threshold with a color indicator.
3. Add notes per attribute if you want. They are optional.
4. Submit. The progress bar shows how many attributes you have scored; the button becomes available once they are all filled in.
5. Move on to the next panelist. Saving clears the form and bumps the count. There is no need to leave the page and come back.

What happens when you save

• The checkpoint becomes completed with the first tasting recorded.
• The study page count updates: you will see how many checkpoints have data and how many you still need before the curve is reliable.
• Once there are enough checkpoints with data, the sensory evolution curve and the regression stop showing the "not enough data" notice and start calculating from what you recorded.

Fixing a mistyped score

Record the same panelist again at the same checkpoint. Their previous values are replaced, not added to. The screen warns you before saving:

This panelist already has scores for this point. Saving will replace them.

If you lose connection

The values you typed are kept on the device while sending. If the submission fails because of a network problem, you do not lose that panelist's work.

And if a double click submits the same tasting twice, it is not duplicated: the app recognizes the repeated submission and keeps a single copy.

How many checkpoints you need

The regression needs at least three checkpoints with data to fit a meaningful line. The study page tells you at all times:

• Not enough data yet: "You still need data for 2 of the 4 checkpoints before the curve is reliable."
• Enough data: "You now have enough data to calculate the shelf-life curve."

The more checkpoints you record, the tighter the estimated best-before date and its confidence interval.

How many panelists

There is no hard minimum: you can record a single panelist per checkpoint and the curve is still calculated. But a panel average is more stable than one person's score, so the more panelists you record at each checkpoint, the less noise your curve carries.

Related

• Create a study — define product, attributes, thresholds, and cadence.
• Regression and threshold — how the curve and crossing day are calculated.