Scientific design of the tasting scales for Japanese Sakes and the method transforming the physical factors of Sakes into the scores on the scale, to help expanding the Japanese Sake market.

Research Project

Project/Area Number	17K00743
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Section	一般
Research Field	Design science
Research Institution	Hyogo University of Health Sciences
Principal Investigator	Maeda Hatsuo 兵庫医療大学, 薬学部, 教授 (00229311)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	甲谷繁兵庫医療大学, 薬学部, 教授 (00242529) 塚本効司兵庫医療大学, 薬学部, 講師 (00454794) 石崎真紀子兵庫医療大学, 薬学部, 研究員 (20623979)
Project Period (FY)	2017-04-01 – 2021-03-31
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2020)
Budget Amount *help	¥3,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥900,000) Fiscal Year 2019: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000) Fiscal Year 2018: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000) Fiscal Year 2017: ¥2,080,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥480,000)
Keywords	日本酒 / 味わい / 形容詞 / 尺度 / 意味微分法 / 揮発性成分 / GC/MS / 味わい表現 / 形容詞対尺度 / 味わい形容詞対尺度 / 味わい色彩表現 / 自己拡散係数 / 多変量解析 / 色彩イメージ / GC-MS法 / NMR-DOSY法 / デザイン
Outline of Final Research Achievements	The tastes of various types of Japanese Sakes were repeatedly evaluated by volunteers with “dual adjective rating scales” originally prepared. The obtained data were evaluated by factor analysis, leading into the third-generation scales as a potent tool to express the tastes of Japanese Sakes. Multiple regression analysis indicated that the scores of newly selected 20 kinds of Sakes on the scales could be reproduced by estimation with the normalized contents of volatile compounds in Sakes. And hence, it was found that the tastes of Sakes could be plotted on the dual adjective rating scales consisted of "angular and round", "quiet and powerful", "glamorous and neat", "dry and fruity", or "hard and soft" without tasting each of Sakes. On these scales, especially on the "angular and round" scales, statistically good relationships were observed between the scores by tasting and by estimation with the contents of volatile compounds.
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	購入者が味わいを感覚的にイメージできる「ライトボディとフルボディ」からなる味わい表現尺度がワインにはある。一方、日本酒には「辛いと甘い」「芳醇と淡麗」など様々な評価尺度があり、購入者は味わいを想像する以前に悩まされる場合が多々ある。そこで、本研究では日本酒の味わいを購入者がより単純にかつ感覚的に想像できる新しい味わい表現尺度の科学的な探索に取り組んだ。その結果、日本酒の揮発性成分を解析した結果を用いて推定した評価と、実際に試飲した時の評価がよく一致する味わい評価尺度を見出した。特に、「四角い⇔丸い」などの５種類の形容詞対評価尺度は新しい日本酒の味わい表現に活用できると期待している。