Avaliação sensorial à luz da fenomenologia da percepção: as experiências incorporadas no processo de aprovação da qualidade de alimentos

Abstract

The process of approving the quality of food is essential to ensure consumer satisfaction and the safety of the food produced. In this context, studies on the phenomenon of sensory approval seek to describe the individual perceptions and situations that lead to different sensory analyses of the quality of a product. However, describing this process is a challenge regarding the subjective aspect of recognition of sensory attributes (texture, aroma, flavor and appearance) by different individuals. Thus, this study aims to analyze the activity of approving the quality of food by employees of an industrial company, diagnosing how individual perceptions guide this evaluation process. The aim is to understand the similarities and differences of this phenomenon of sensory perception among the actors, the contrasts of the company's empirical procedure in relation to the normative system of sensory analysis in the area and the impact of the experiences incorporated into this activity. To understand the complexity that exists in the process, data collection and analysis, the combination of the Grounded Theory (GT) or Grounded Theory and Work Analysis (AET) methodologies was used. Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenology of Perception was used as a theoretical backdrop to contextualize the discussions in this dissertation. As part of the results, this work recognizes that the phenomenon of Sensory Analysis of Food (ASA) goes beyond the process that occurs in the sensory organs of the approvers, also involving subjective and sociocultural processes. Furthermore, this ASA phenomenon can be recognized not only in the Sensory Analysis dictated by standards (ASN), but also in the phenomenon named in this research as Empirical Sensory Analysis (ASE). Thus, this work has the potential to contribute to the understanding of the evaluation of the sensory quality of food and the relevance of the experiences incorporated into the individual perceptions that underlie the sensory analyses of different actors, which occurs in practice, in addition to bringing some theoretical points that guide this type of analysis, from the point of view of Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenology.