METHODOLOGY OF SENSORY ANALYSIS IN IMPROVING THE TECHNOLOGY OF HONEY WINES

Abstract

Today, Ukraine is characterised by the revival of honey-making traditions and the development of authentic honey wine production. There are no large-scale industrial producers yet, and the main producers of honey wine in Ukraine are small craft producers and individual restaurants focused on local products and national Ukrainian cuisine. There are several certified Ukrainian producers of mead (Ukrainian Medovary LLC and Medovyi Spas LLC). Honey wines based on natural honey have a long history and are produced in many countries around the world. It is shown that the revival of the popularity of mead is due to the craft beer movement and interest in historical drinks. In a highly competitive food market, it is important to produce products that fully meet consumer expectations and have high taste. In today's world, sensory analysis is recognised as an essential tool for business and food production, as it can be used to promptly provide an initial assessment of the quality of not only the final product, but also to prevent the formation of food defects and eliminate violations of technological regimes and prevent the release of substandard finished products. The article presents the main historical stages of development and reasons for the decline of honey production in Ukraine, which include the complexity, resource intensity, and duration of honey wine technology. The purpose of the study is to create sensory profiles of honey wines in accordance with the requirements of international standards for sensory analysis. The method of scoring on an international 100-point scale and the descriptor-profile method were used for the study. Sikera honey wines were subjected to the study. The results of the scoring method indicate that the wines are of high quality and mediocre, ordinary, possibly with some shortcomings. The profiledescriptive method of analysis allowed us to identify the attributes that caused the deviation of the quality indicators of honey wine, which indicates the existence of certain problems in compliance with the technological regulations for the production of honey wines. Further research should investigate consumer demand and create an ideal profile of honey wine.