Abstract: Nut snack foods, produced by sequential roasting, drying, and frying from a wide variety of nuts and melon seeds, are nutritious snacks with a unique flavor and mouthfeel that are favored by consumers. This article tries to give a comprehensive review of nut snack foods in terms of their definition, characteristics and current status. The focus of this review is on the sensory and eating experience of nut foods and the factors influencing them as well as the various methods and techniques for the evaluation of their sensory properties. It is hoped that this review will provide new ideas for studies on the sensory experience of nut snack foods and help to promote the healthy development of the nut food industry in the new era.

Key words: nut; snack food; oral processing; sensory characteristics; sensory evaluation