3.3.3. Fried Boarfish

Most of the consumers who performed the hedonic testes for fried boarfish were women (74%), and 66% were aged between 18 and 30 (Figure 6). Fried boarfish is a product that was well accepted by consumers as all the descriptors were considered essentially very nice or pleasant (Figure 6). The fried boarfish's general appearance was considered pleasant (49%), as were its color (56%), odor (53%), and texture (50%) (Figure 6). This product's flavor and global appreciation were mostly considered very pleasant (39% and 43%, respectively) (Figure 6). In addition, the data also showed that 50% of the consumers would probably buy it (Figure 6).

**Figure 6.** Results from the fried boarfish consumer acceptance survey: (**a**) sensorial evaluation (product's general appearance, colour, odour, flavour, texture and global appreciation), (**b**) consumers characterisation (gender percentage), (**c**) consumers age and (**d**) buy intention (*n* = 90).

After the validation of the sample adequation (KMO = 0.859, Bartlett, *p*-value = 0.000), the results revealed that 62.54% of the data variability was explained by odor, texture, color, flavor, and global appreciation, which belonged to the first factor that was labelled as "all senses and overall sensory experience" (Figure 7, Table 7). The second factor was formed by appearance, which explained 11.08% of data variability and was labelled as

"sight" (Figure 7, Table 7). Although the odor and texture were closer to the first factor, they were represented in the middle of the quadrant, revealing that they may not differentiate much either in terms of color, global appreciation, and flavor, or in terms of appearance (Figure 7). These two groups allowed for the differentiation of the fried boarfish, although they did not have opposite behaviors (Figure 7). Consumers who classified texture with higher values also did so for odor (Figure 7). Those who classified flavor with higher values also did so for color and global appreciation, these being the descriptors with most importance to consumers (Figure 7). The product's appearance had almost no association with the color, global appreciation, or flavor of the fried boarfish. Therefore, the sensory evaluation of the product's external aspect did not show any relevance to the evaluation of its color, global appreciation, or flavor (Figure 7). All the descriptors were statistically significant with intense correlation with one another (Table 5). No statistical differences were reported between descriptor classifications and purchase intention when comparing genders (Man–Whitney, *p*-value > 0.05). The purchase intention was statistically different between age ranges (Kruskal–Wallis, *p*-value = 0.037), where the older consumers liked the product more than the younger ones (Games–Howell, *p*-value = 0.005).

**Figure 7.** Behavior of fried boarfish descriptors, according to consumer classifications.



Extraction method; Principal component analysis; Rotation method; Varimax with Kaiser normalization; Rotation converged in 3 iterations.

#### 3.3.4. Comber Pastries

Most of the consumers who performed the hedonic testes for comber pastries were women (71%), and 70% were aged between 18 and 30 (Figure 8b,c, respectively). In general, comber pastries were considered very pleasant by the consumers in a quantity of 49% for its general appearance, 42% for color, 53% for odor, 41% for flavor, 51% for texture, and

56% for global appreciation (Figure 8a). Regarding the purchase intention of this product, the results revealed that most of the consumers would probably or definitely buy it (50% and 38%, respectively) (Figure 8d).

After the validation of the sample adequation (KMO = 0.799, Bartlett, *p*-value = 0.000), it was noticed that comber pastries' color, flavor, texture, and global appreciation were related to each other and helped to explain 62.40% of the data variability, belonging to the first factor that was labelled as "touch, taste, vision, and overall sensory experience" (Figure 9, Table 8). The second factor, which explained 19.47% of the data variability, is characterized by the odor and appearance and was labelled as "sight and smell" (Figure 9, Table 8). The consumers who ranked the appearance with higher values also did so for odor (Figure 9), whereas those who classified flavor with higher values also did so for texture, color, and global appreciation, with these being the descriptors with most importance for consumers (Figure 9). These two groups allowed for the differentiation of the comber pastries, although they did not reveal opposite behavior (Figure 9). The comber pastries' odor and appearance had no association, especially with the global appreciation and texture, revealing that the visual aspect and the olfactory senses were not relevant in the product's general evaluation and texture (Figure 9).

All the descriptors had a statistically significant correlation with each other (Table 5). Only the correlation between texture and odor, as well as between global appreciation and odor, showed an association with a lower intensity (Table 5). The purchase intention was not statistically different among genders (Mann–Whitney, *p*-value > 0.05) and age ranges (Kruskal–Wallis, *p*-value > 0.05).

**Figure 9.** Behavior of comber pastry descriptors, according to consumer classifications.


Extraction method; principal component analysis; rotation method; varimax with Kaiser normalization; rotation converged in three iterations.
