Organic Fruit Taste Test Comparative

Organic Fruit Taste Test

Comparative Study for Organic and Conventionally Grown Fruit

The question for this study is: Whether it is possible for someone to consistently tell the difference between organic and conventionally grown fruit.

This study is important for the improvement of the agricultural industry in general. Many studies have been conducted on the health benefits and taste benefits on organic produce (Fillion, 2002), but few come to precise statistical conclusions as to whether it is possible to entirely distinguish between the two (Weibel, 2000). In fact, many studies have instead focused on determining whether only certain populations prefer organically grown fruit (Padel, 2005).

The null hypothesis for this experiment is: There is no flavor distinction between organically grown and conventionally grown produce.

The alternative hypothesis for this experiment is: There is a discernible difference between organically grown and conventionally grown produce within a margin of 10%.

Method

1. The participant for this study is a volunteer who claims to have the ability to consistently discern the difference between organic and conventionally grown produce. The participant for this study was a volunteer whose sensitivity of taste is well-known throughout many social circles. The participant for this study was chosen based on the met criteria that he has the ability to discriminate various foods by their flavor.

2. This experiment will be a comparative test where one organic and one conventional fruit will be tasted in each sitting.

3. This design was chosen as it directly establishes whether the person is able to taste the difference between the two fruits, or whether their claim is not true.

4. The data was collected on a chart. The participant was asked to distinguish which was the conventionally grown and which the organic.

5. The statistical analysis formed for this study is cumulative/percentage based. In order for this person's claim to be true, they must get 90% or more of the samplings correct. The test is calculated using the following formula: total amount correct/total amount of tests performed.

Data Analysis

1. The taster determined 11 of the 14 samples correctly. Three samples were incorrectly identified. Thus, the taster received a statistical score of 88%.