The amount of material served to panelists and heterogeneity in foods, have ever been a trouble to the sensory analyst. They used to be regarded as interference in results and, sometimes, could explain no difference found in products or non realistic differences. In order to study these aspects, experiments were carried out with pods in brine and little biscuits employing the degree of difference test. The first experiment (Exp. I), with pods, showed no difference when employing one or five grains. Of course, to employ one grain can not be recommended. The other two experiments, Exp. II and Exp. III, with pods (the second) and little biscuits (the third) had not confirmed increasing of variability in results which could be regarded as related to heterogeneity of materials, and more, there was no evidence of great effects of heterogeneity on the observed averages. Then, the amount of material served to panelists and the heterogeneity in materials could not change the conclusions obtained from these experiments.
heterogeneity; amount of served material; degree of difference test; texture
