Articles
SENSORY EVALUATION STUDIES PROVIDE GROWERS WITH MARKET INSIGHT
Article number
1090_4
Pages
25 – 28
Language
English
Abstract
To help growers identify market niches, sensory evaluations were conducted on colored bell peppers.
Colored peppers have become supermarket staples and regularly demand premium prices.
However, there are many varieties available from which growers may choose.
Two consumer-based sensory panels (n=120) were conducted to evaluate the acceptability of six bell pepper cultivars.
For the visual appearance test, panelists were asked to evaluate whole peppers based on appearance and how acceptable they thought the flavor of the sample would be.
Panelists were then asked to evaluate bell pepper strips for appearance, aroma, texture, flavor, and overall acceptability.
A 9-point hedonic scale was used to score responses for both visual appearance and consumer acceptance tests.
Fishers Protected LSD test was utilized to separate main effect treatment means when significant differences occurred among treatments.
The cultivar Colossal was the most preferred pepper based on visual appearance alone. Colossal is a commercial cultivar that sets green fruit, which eventually turns to red, a familiar color combination for consumers.
Panelists perceived flavor acceptability, based on visual appearance alone, closely correlated to appearance acceptability.
When panelists were presented with strips alone, ratings given for visual appearance of the strips did not follow the same order as ratings for the whole peppers. Valencia was found to be more visually acceptable than the other cultivars.
Flavor acceptability among cultivars ranged from 6.0 to 6.7 with no difference.
The texture of Valencia and Colossal were most preferred and also received high scores for overall acceptability when all traits were combined.
The least preferred cultivars were yellow-fruited Sirius and Super Heavy Weight.
Colored peppers have become supermarket staples and regularly demand premium prices.
However, there are many varieties available from which growers may choose.
Two consumer-based sensory panels (n=120) were conducted to evaluate the acceptability of six bell pepper cultivars.
For the visual appearance test, panelists were asked to evaluate whole peppers based on appearance and how acceptable they thought the flavor of the sample would be.
Panelists were then asked to evaluate bell pepper strips for appearance, aroma, texture, flavor, and overall acceptability.
A 9-point hedonic scale was used to score responses for both visual appearance and consumer acceptance tests.
Fishers Protected LSD test was utilized to separate main effect treatment means when significant differences occurred among treatments.
The cultivar Colossal was the most preferred pepper based on visual appearance alone. Colossal is a commercial cultivar that sets green fruit, which eventually turns to red, a familiar color combination for consumers.
Panelists perceived flavor acceptability, based on visual appearance alone, closely correlated to appearance acceptability.
When panelists were presented with strips alone, ratings given for visual appearance of the strips did not follow the same order as ratings for the whole peppers. Valencia was found to be more visually acceptable than the other cultivars.
Flavor acceptability among cultivars ranged from 6.0 to 6.7 with no difference.
The texture of Valencia and Colossal were most preferred and also received high scores for overall acceptability when all traits were combined.
The least preferred cultivars were yellow-fruited Sirius and Super Heavy Weight.
Authors
C.E.H. Coker, B. Posadas, W. Schilling
Keywords
bell pepper, Capsicum annuum, consumer, preference, survey
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