Acceptability of scab‐resistant versus conventional apple cultivars by Polish adult and young consumers

Abstract

AbstractBACKGROUND: One of the problems in marketing fruit is to increase the share of fruits produced in sustainable agriculture to meet the expectation of ecology‐oriented consumers. Acceptability of such fruits by the consumers is of paramount importance. The objective of this study was to explore the acceptability of three scab‐resistant apple cultivars as compared with three popular conventional cultivars by Polish consumers of various age groups (adults, youngsters and children). Acceptability was tested on apples harvested in two consecutive years (2004 and 2005) after 2 months cold storage. Apple samples were chosen among 22 conventional and scab‐resistant cultivars for their distinctive differences in sensory profiles. Consumers evaluated separately the degree of external (appearance) and internal (flavour and texture) liking of an apple using a 9‐point hedonic scale (children used a 5‐point scale) and completed a questionnaire detailing socio‐demographic and apple‐concerning behavioural questions.RESULTS: The results based on internal liking data have shown that in all age groups, consumers were similarly segmented into three clusters: cluster 1, which liked all cultivars a great deal and equally; cluster 2, which preferred firm, juicy and rather acidic fruits; and cluster 3, which liked sweeter apples with intensive ripe apple flavour and moderate firmness.CONCLUSION: It is concluded that scab‐resistant cultivars with the above sensory characteristics might be accepted by quite a large segment of consumers, in each of the age groups tested. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry