README file
Data Set Title: “OLEUM Project. Sensory assessment of new artificial olfactory reference materials in virgin olive oil. Performance testing”.
Data Set Authors: Sara Barbieri (Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Italy), Ramon Aparicio-Ruiz (Instituto de la Grasa (CSIC), Spain), Karolina Brkić Bubola (Institute of Agriculture and Tourism, Croatia), Milena Bučar-Miklavčič (Science and Research Centre Koper, Slovenia), Florence Lacoste (Institut des Corps Gras, France), Ummuhan Tibet (Ulusal Zeytin ve Zeytinya˘ gı Konseyi, Turkey), Ole Winkelmann (Eurofins Analytik GmbH, Germany), Alessandra Bendini (Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Italy), Diego Luis García-González (Instituto de la Grasa (CSIC), Spain), Tullia Gallina Toschi (Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Italy).
Data Set Contact Person: Alessandra Bendini, http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6515-5519, alessandra.bendini@unibo.it.
Data Set License: this data set is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Publication Year: 2021
Project Info: OLEUM (Advanced solutions for assuring the overall authenticity and quality of olive oil), funded by European Union, Horizon 2020 Programme. Grant Agreement num. 635690; http://www.oleumproject.eu/.  
Data set contents
The data set consists of:
•	a numerical quantitative file saved in .xlsx 
“OLEUM_SensoryDataRMs.xlsx”
“OLEUM_SensoryDataRMs.ods”
•	a README file saved in .rtf format 
“OLEUM_SensoryDataRMs_README.rtf”
Data set Documentation
Abstract
This data set contains the underlying data of the manuscript titled:
Performance testing of new artificial olfactory reference materials in virgin olive oil sensory assessment (Barbieri S. et al., 2021). 
This manuscript has been submitted to International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science on 10th of February 2021 and then has been accepted for publication on 22nd of July 2021 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgfs.2021.100402). 
The dataset contains data that validates a procedure for sensory certification of two, recently formulated, artificial olfactory reference materials (RMs) for winey-vinegary and rancid defects of virgin olive oil named “AV8” and “R6”, respectively. Specifically, a protocol for the suitability of RMs has been defined, shared, and applied by six sensory panels involved in the H2020 OLEUM project; it consisted of three steps: i) evaluation of representativeness of RMs (compared to actual samples) and of its intensity values (named “representativeness AV8_part 1 and “representativeness R6_part 1” in the dataset); ii) determination of the panels’ detection threshold (named “threshold AV8_part 2” and “threshold R6_part 2” in the dataset); and iii) evaluation of long-term stability (named “stability AV8_part 3” and “stability R6_part 3” in the dataset).
Content of the file 
OLEUM_SensoryDataRMs.xlsx/.ods: 
•	sheets representativeness AV8_part 1 and representativeness R6_part 1 contain data of sensory evaluation of representativeness (1) or not (0) of the two RMs stock solutions (usefulness of AV8 and R6 in resembling winey-vinegary and rancid sensory defects, respectively) and related intensity values compared to actual samples (perceived intensity indicated on a 10-cm linear scale in which 0 means the absence of stimuli and 10 the stimuli perceived with the maximum intensity).
•	sheets threshold AV8_part 2 and threshold R6_part 2 contain sensory answers (1 or 0) from 62 assessors (belonging to six sensory panels) related to results of paired difference tests, where the tasters were asked to recognize if they detect a stimulus (1) or not (0) for each of the two RMs (AV8 and R6) and its seven dilutions prepared in series being each one at 1:1 ratio in odorless refined olive oil (OROO); these data permit the determination of the panels’ detection threshold.
•	sheets stability AV8_part 3 and stability R6_part 3 contain sensory evaluation as intensities values (from 0 to 10) by smelling of the 7 dilutions of each RM (selected for the threshold evaluation) and of the two stock solutions (AV8 and R6) repeated after 3 months (time 1) and 6 months (time 2) of storage at 10-12°C in the dark; stability evaluation is necessary to provide important information on possible modifications of the aroma during the storage period and estimate the best before date of each RM.