A sensory profile of 20 fonio (Digitaria exilis) landraces from Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso was established using descriptive sensory analysis. A set of five descriptors was selected by consensus by a panel with 23 members during successive training sessions. Descriptors belonged to the main quality criteria for a well cooked fonio that were previously identified by consumers in group interviews. Each landrace was tasted and scored in triplicate by the panelists. A good correlation was found between descriptors indicating that they were not redundant. The efficiency of the panel as a whole was confirmed for both agreement and reliability. Principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis were used to describe the variability of sensory profiles of the landraces. The 20 fonio landraces clustered into four sensory profiles. Sensory criteria of variability were first visual characteristics (colour and impurities). The second criterion of sensory variability was a textural characteristic, the consistency of cooked grain. Landraces from Guinea and Mali were variable for both visual and textural characteristics; those from Burkina Faso appeared to be more homogenous.