Are Peach Cultivars Used in Conventional Long Food Supply Chains Suitable for the High-Quality Short Markets?

Cosimo Taiti,William Antonio Petrucci,Edgardo Giordani,Laura Luzzietti,Stefano Mancuso,Valter Nencetti,Corrado Costa

doi:10.3390/foods10061253

Cosimo Taiti, William Antonio Petrucci + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10061253

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Abstract

Peaches are climacteric and highly perishable fruits, with a short shelf life, and are prone to rapid deterioration after harvest. In this study, the chemical proprieties, aroma profile and a sensory evaluation were conducted to: (1) characterize and compare fruits of 13 different peach and nectarine cultivars, harvested at physiological maturation; and (2) assess the suitability of these cultivars, that are successfully used in long food supply chains (LFSCs), for their use in short food supply chains (SFSCs). Through statistical analysis clear differences were found among the studied cultivars, and in particular between cultivars suited to SFSCs compared to those suited for LFSCs. Results indicate that, despite all cultivars being planted in the same orchards and with the same pre-harvest management and practices, their post-harvest performances were mainly influenced by the cultivar genetic makeup. Therefore, cultivars conventionally used in SFSCs, such as “Guglielmina” and “Regina di Londa”, had the best aroma, sweetness and juiciness compared to LSCPs ones. In contrast, the LSCPs varieties showed interesting values for firmness and crunchiness.

Highlights

“Nectaross” fruits showed the lowest value for all size parameters, representing by far the smallest sample included in this study
In this study, carried out in 2019, a total of 13 P. persica genotypes (2 of them currently adopted for Short Food Supply Chains (SFSCs) in Italy, and 11 marketed in the long food supply chains (LFSCs)) were used
By the comparison among different peaches and nectarines varieties suitable for long supply chains and short supply chains, we have observed (1) important differences for physicochemical parameters, VOCs, sensory and consumer evaluation; (2) strong relationship among sensory evaluation, physicochemical traits and volatile compound profiles; and (3) deep differences between fruits suitable to LSCPs compared to SSCPs ones

Summary

Introduction

Farmers obtain some added value from their products through the SFSCs, while consumers get better foods “with the farmers’ face on it” [4] and, on the other hand, SFSCs promotes the rise of a new more territorially based rural development [5], the adoption of more environmentally friendly rural agronomic practices and a more suitable use of local resources [6,7] In this context SFSCs represent different ways of producing, distributing, retailing and buying foods [8] and they are commonly referred as alternative food quality markets [9]. As reported elsewhere [10,11] French and Italian, and, in general, EU farmers and consumers are increasingly turning to SFSCs in order to get the positive effects related to the quality of food products, the improvement of the environment and the development of local economy [12,13]

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