Individuals naturally engage in sensory evaluation of water quality during daily consumption. Efforts to ensure that all consumers receive high quality water must attend to sensory evaluation; otherwise individuals can obtain repeated evidence of compromised quality that reduces confidence in public purveyors and regulating agencies. Sensory quality is currently regulated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) by promulgation of secondary maximum contaminant levels (SMCLs) governing taste and odor in drinking water. Efforts to establish new SMCLs for identified organic contaminants has been thwarted by a lack or research data even though standardized methods for sensory evaluation presently exist. The present paper recommends a broad based national research program designed to produce odor detection thresholds, flavor detection thresholds, flavor acceptability functions, flavor recognition thresholds, and flavor intensity functions for each current contaminant of concern which will provide a substantial basis for the desired SMCLs, and offer an unprecedented comparative evaluation of currently standardized sensory evaluation procedures.

Bacteria largely determine the quality of fresh and lightly preserved fish products. This paper surveys traditional and rapid methods for estimation of bacterial levels in seafood. The use of traditional agar techniques is discussed with reference to development of substrates and procedures suited for fish and fish products. This includes estimation of the bacteria specifically involved in the spoilage process. During the last decade, several microbiological rapid methods or principles (DEFT, microcolonies, Limulus lysate, ATP, conductance, microcalorimetry, reduction of trimethylamine oxide (TMAO)) have been suggested for estimating the bacteriological quality of seafoods. A brief survey of these methods and the results obtained is given. Preliminary results on development of poly- and monoclonal antibodies against Shewanella putrefaciens are mentioned. Future research may involve the development of DNA-probes against genes coding for specific spoilage reactions.

Der zur Beurteilung der Kleberqualitaet von Weichweizen eingesetzte Sedimentationstest ist fuer Dinkel nicht geeignet. Die Dehnungseigenschaften eines Dinkelteiges lassen bessere Rueckschluesse auf seine Kleberqualitaet und damit auf seine Backfaehigkeit zu. Fuer die Bestimmung der viskoelastischen Eigenschaften wurde daher die Oszillationsmessung mit einem Rheometer eingesetzt. An je neun Proben der Sorten Schwabenkorn und Rouquin wurde untersucht, inwiefernsich die Anbauparameter des Dinkels auf die Klebereigenschaften auswirken. Die Messungen ergaben, dass z.B. Duengung und Vorfrucht einen deutlichen Einfluss auf das rheologische Verhalten der Dinkelteige haben. Die Ergebnisse der Oszillationsmessungen lassen nur Rueckschluesse auf das zu erwartende Gebaeckvolumen zu. Die Relevanz der Messergebnisse muss noch bewiesen werden. [S-92-00602]

Little information is available concerning relationships between milling and baking quality of soft red winter (SRW) wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) bulk populations and quality of lines derived in subsequent generations. Experiments were conducted to determine if quality evaluation of F4 bulk populations could provide useful information on quality potential of F5 lines. This would allow SRW wheat breeders using bulk systems of generation advance to develop appropriate selection strategies. Fifty-eight F4 SRW wheat bulk populations were grown at Plains, GA, in 1988-1989. Milling and baking quality of each population was evaluated at the USDA-ARS Soft Wheat Quality Laboratory. Random F4:5 headrows from eight populations with diverse F4 bulk quality characteristics were grown in 1989-1990 at Tifton, GA, and similarly evaluated for milling and baking quality. Except for flour protein concentration, quality attributes of F4 bulk populations were significantly correlated with means of F5 lines derived from each population. Bulk populations with quality deficiencies produced higher proportions of lines with similar quality deficiencies. Higher proportions of lines with adequate and superior quality were identified in progenies of bulk populations having good quality. Milling and baking qualities of F5 lines derived from populations with only 50% SRW wheat parentage were more variable and less predictable based on F4 bulk evaluation than quality of F5 lines derived from populations of 100% SRW wheat parentage. Milling and baking quality of F4 bulk populations was indicative of the quality and potential of F5 lines derived from each bulk. Bulk evaluation could be used to cull low-quality-potential populations before line derivation.