AI, the new 'infiltrator' in the olive oil tasting panel
Can you imagine a robot driving trucks better than a person? An android assisting you with ease in any store? Or be operated on in the operating room by a machine? Although it may seem like science fiction to you, these milestones are planned for 2027, 2031 and 2053, respectively, according to a report from the Future of Humanity Institute, University of Oxford. And evaluating an EVOO? When will an AI be in charge of an olive oil tasting panel? The investigation does not specify it, but we will tell you in advance: stop now!
This is what the Easy Taste research project has achieved, a technology capable of evaluating the sensory quality of olive oil quickly and accurately launched by the Acesur R&D team in collaboration with the laboratory INDLAB and the Central Research Support Services of the University of Córdoba. But, Do you know how this digital nose works?
How to carry out an olive oil tasting?
The origin of this idea, a pioneer worldwide, lies in the need of the oil sector. Please note that, according to the regulations of the European Commission and the International Olive Council, To determine the quality of an olive oil, the product must be subjected to a physical and chemical analysis and a sensory evaluation. carried out by a group of between 8 to 12 experts. This is what is known as the olive oil tasting panel and is responsible for assessing the category of the oil and organoleptic criteria such as fruity, bitterness and spiciness, as well as possible defects, like rancio or winey.
Now, This olive oil tasting panel has its limitations. On the one hand, it is a subjective process, despite the high degree of training of the tasters. In fact, the result may vary depending on the physical or emotional state of the tasters, the environmental conditions and other external factors. Furthermore, to avoid sensory saturation of experts, the IOC limit the number of tastings to 12 per day and spaced out in time. Finally, having experts requires preparation time and hiring costs.
How do you detect if olive oil is of good quality using AI?
Faced with these obstacles, the Acesur group - which includes Hacienda Guzmán - has opted to seek technological alternatives that complement or replace with guarantees the work of the panel of olive oil tasting. It arises like this Easy Taste, one of the most ambitious initiatives in this field.
It is a Artificial Intelligence system based on an "electronic nose" capable of evaluating the sensory quality of olive oil quickly and accurately using electronic sensors and mathematical algorithms that imitate the olfactory and gustatory function of humans. These sensors can appreciate the oil and detect chemical and volatile components that are imperceptible to the human nose, providing an objective and consistent evaluation. Specifically, Easy Taste is able to perceive more than 125 volatile substances different, positive either negative. Thus, the project, launched in 2021 after several years of research, has revolutionized the way in which oils are valued within its commercial category, even overcoming some of the limitations of the traditional tasting panel.
What advantages does Artificial Intelligence bring to the olive oil tasting panel?
Consequently, the application of AI in the olive oil tasting panel brings multiple benefits, both for producers and consumers. What are the most significant advantages of Easy Taste?
- Objectivity and consistency: Unlike human tasters, AI systems are not affected by factors such as mood, fatigue or environmental conditions. This ensures that each assessment is accurate and consistent, eliminating the variability that subjective judgments can introduce.
- Speed in analysis: A traditional olive oil tasting panel can take hours or even days to evaluate a batch of oil. With the use of Easy Taste, this process is reduced to minutes, allowing for greater agility in the production chain and faster delivery of the product to the market.
- Reduced costs: Training and maintaining an olive oil tasting panel is expensive. It requires hiring experts and constantly performing calibration tests. On the other hand, once implemented, an AI system like Easy Taste has a much lower operating cost and can operate uninterruptedly with a total of 50 tastings per day.
- Accessibility: Not all small and medium-sized companies can afford their own olive oil tasting panel. Thus, AI democratizes access to high-level quality evaluations, allowing smaller-scale producers to certify the quality of their oils without depending on external panels.
- Continuous improvement: One of the virtues of AI-based systems is that they can learn and optimize over time. That is, the more data they collect, the more precise their evaluations will be. In addition, this system has been implemented in multiple oil production plants in Spain, generating real-time data on a simple web platform, allowing continuous improvement in the detection of defects and the overall quality of the oil.
Easy Taste's efficiency is not only optimizing the quality of the final product, but also reducing operating costs and production times. Although the human factor remains fundamental in gourmet appreciation during the olive oil tasting panel, technologies like this offer an objective, fast and accessible alternative to ensure that every drop of oil that reaches your table is of the highest quality. A goal that is guaranteed with any of the Hacienda Guzmán varieties, because in our online store You will find top quality EVOOs as a result of our culture of dedication.
