Food processing and fermentation of the kelps Alaria esculenta and Saccharina latissima – effects on sensory properties and flavour-active compounds

This dataset contains raw data from sensory and chemical analyses of edible kelps Alaria esculenta and Saccharina latissima subjected to different food processing and fermentation treatments.

Kelp samples were processed using various pre-treatment methods, including pulsed electric field (PEF) treatment and low-temperature blanching in warm seawater (W-SW), and compared to untreated controls (CO). Samples were subsequently subjected or not to lactic acid fermentation (Ferm) as a stabilization method for kelp biomass.

The dataset includes measurements related to sensory properties and concentrations of flavour-active compounds, enabling comparison of quality attributes between processing methods and between kelp species.

These data support investigations into the effects of food processing and fermentation on the sensory and chemical characteristics of kelp intended for food applications.

1. Sensory data (sensory_2023.csv): sensory scores of kelp (Sp: Alaria/Saccharina) samples from processing treatments (PEF, W-SW, ...) for 11 flavour and odour attributes on a scale from 1 to 9, obtained from the generic descriptive analysis of the kelp samples by 8 trained panellists (A - H) in replicate sessions (a/b).

2. Free amino-acids (faa_2023.csv): free amino-acid concentrations (in g/100g DW) of kelp (Sp: Alaria/Saccharina) samples from processing treatments (PEF, W-SW, ...), obtained from ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC).

3. Minerals (minerals.csv): mineral concentrations (in mg/kg DW) of kelp (Sp: Alaria/Saccharina) samples from processing treatments (PEF, W-SW, ...), obtained from inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).

4. Mannitol and other carbohydrates (carbohydrates.csv): carbohydrate concentrations (in g/100g DW) of kelp (Sp: Alaria/Saccharina) samples from processing treatments (PEF, W-SW, ...), obtained from high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

5. Volatile compounds (volatiles_mean.csv): relative abundance (mean peak area of triplicate samples) of volatile compounds in kelp (Sp: Alaria/Saccharina) samples from processing treatments (PEF, W-SW, ...), obtained by headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The odour characteristics of compounds were found on flavornet.org and thegoodscentscompany.com databases.

6. Data analysis (R_script.pdf): Analytical workflow including R script related to the statistical analysis of the data
- Mixed model ANOVA (sensory scores)
- one-way ANOVA (minerals, mannitol and free amino-acids)
- PCA (sensory scores, free amino-acid and volatile compounds profiles)
- PLSR: correlation between flavour-active compounds (i.e. chemical predictors) and sensory responses (flavour and odour scores)