Ginseng heat-processing trial record — v1.0
Proposed engineering record; not a validated recipe or SOP. Use the project’s validated food-safety process; only taste samples cleared as safe. Do not reduce thermal severity to improve flavour.

|Comparison|Conditions to align|Question it addresses|
|---|---|---|
|Base without ginseng, sampled before/after the target process|Same milk or plant base, sweetener system and other ingredients|How much flavor or color change comes from processing the base itself?|
|Base with ginseng, sampled before/after the target process|Same ingredient batch and addition rate, same thermal process|Does the ginseng-containing system change beyond the base response?|
|Processed ginseng product, without and with candidate masking systems|Actual addition sequence, processing and packaging conditions|Does the candidate still work in the final product?|
|Masking-system blank without ginseng|Same candidate level and processing|Does the candidate add sweetness, aftertaste or another sensory effect of its own?|

Project / date / operator: ____
Species / plant part / processing identity: ____
Ingredient lot / composition / carriers / dose and units: ____
Base version / sweetener / other ingredients: ____
Comparison basis / acceptance criteria / analysis plan: ____
Independent preparation / bottle / analytical repeat IDs: ____
Random sample code / assessor / session / order / serving temperature: ____
Actual thermal history / addition sequence / packaging / storage point: ____
Colour / physical condition / settling / adhesion: ____
Total definition / individual peaks / extraction / recovery method: ____
Whole-container representative sample / abnormal fractions: ____
Analytical observations and units: ____
Bitterness: ____
Metallic taste: ____
Ginseng character: ____
Sweetness: ____
Aftertaste: ____
Declared sensory scale: ____
Separate consumer-liking assessment: ____
Deviations / missing observations / next decision: ____

Copy the blank fields for each sample. Distinguish independent preparations from repeated measurements. Keep missing observations blank, not zero. No observations or thresholds are prefilled. American-ginseng UHT milk is not interchangeable with Panax ginseng model solutions. Hydrothermal 20(S)-Rg3, Rk1 and Rg5 maxima need not occur at the same time; chemical endpoints do not prove bitterness mechanisms.
https://zlbotanicals.com/resources/blog/ginseng-heat-bitterness