The effect of canopy position on the fruit quality and consumer preference of apples

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: We aimed to determine how canopy microclimate influences fruit quality and consumerpreference in apples. Our postulate was that consumer preference would be higher for thetaste, but not necessarily for the appearance of outer canopy fruit.Outer canopy fruit, exposed to higher irradiance and temperatures, accumulated morephenolics and ascorbic acid, and had higher antioxidant capacities in their peel compared toinner canopy fruit. Phenolic levels and antioxidant capacity were also higher in the flesh ofouter canopy fruit while ascorbic acid was higher in the flesh of outer canopy 'Granny Smith'.From a marketing perspective, outer canopy fruit can be seen as possessing greater potentialhealth benefits.Outer canopy fruit were higher in dry matter content (DMC), sugars and TSS, but lower inTA in the first season of the study. The sweeter and less sour taste of outer canopy fruit waspreferred in all three cultivars over two years of study. Sunburnt fruit were higher in DMC,TSS:TA ratio, lower in TA and were perceived to be the sweetest, least sour and lowest inapple flavour and textural attributes. The effect of canopy position on apple flavour andtextural attributes was inconsistent.The redder outer canopy 'Starking' fruit were preferred by consumers because this cultivar ismarketed with full red colour. The appearance of blushed, outer canopy 'Granny Smith' and'Golden Delicious', and sunburnt 'Golden Delicious' were not preferred by consumers.Consumers are not familiar with such fruit. Blushed 'Granny Smith' is downgraded andsometimes sold at a lower price while sunburnt apples are processed or dumped depending onsunburn severity.The consistency of these results was investigated in one season for 'Golden Delicious' fromfive locations. The consumer taste preference differential for inner and outer canopy fruitdiminished as canopy size decreased. This indicates that there generally would be no benefitin harvesting and marketing outer and inner canopy 'Golden Delicious' separately.We investigated the effect of familiarity on consumer preference by utilising an'experienced consumer group of farm labourers from Ceres who are familiar with all fruit ona tree compared to an 'inexperienced consumer group of Stellenbosch consumers who areonly exposed to fruit on the commercial market and eat apples less frequently. Both groupspreferred the taste and appearance of outer canopy 'Starking'. The taste of sunburnt fruit waspreferred by a substantial segment of both consumer groups, but the appearance was preferred by only some Ceres consumers. A small segment of Ceres consumers preferred the taste andappearance of the blushed outer canopy 'Granny Smith' and 'Golden Delicious' while someStellenbosch consumers preferred the taste of outer canopy 'Golden Delicious', but not'Granny Smith'. Therefore, Ceres consumers who are more familiar with the taste attributesof sunburnt and blushed fruit of green cultivars have a higher preference for the appearance ofthese fruit. Based on our results, fruit marketers may be able to develop niche markets forouter canopy and sunburnt 'Golden Delicious' fruit.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University