Evaluation of hedonic scores and R-indices for visual, flavour and texture preferences of apple cultivars by British Columbian and Nova Scotian consumers

Abstract

Apple preferences were examined for regional, cultivar and order-of presentation effects. Seven apple cultivars, four (Honeycrisp, Fiesta, Cortland and Sinta) grown in Nova Scotia (NS) and three (Creston, Silken and Gala) grown in British Columbia (BC) were evaluated for visual, flavour and texture preferences using a nine-point hedonic scale. In both locations, 126 consumers evaluated all seven cultivars for their visual preferences and four of the seven cultivars for their flavour and texture preferences, using an incomplete-block design balanced for presentation order and carry-over effects. On average, the flavour and texture scores of NS consumers were higher than those of BC consumers. Regional differences were most pronounced for visual preferences, with BC consumers preferring Gala and Creston (BC-grown cultivars) and NS consumers preferring Fiesta and Cortland (NS-grown cultivars). Despite these differences, three of the four top-rated cultivars were identical (Gala, Fiesta and Cortland). Flavour preferences were the most similar, with Gala, Silken, Creston and Cortland being preferred by both NS and BC consumers. Regional differences for texture preferences were less pronounced than those for visual preferences, with Creston preferred by both groups. The BC consumers preferred the texture of Silken and Creston, while the NS consumers preferred the texture of Creston, Honeycrisp, Cortland and Gala. Results from the nine-point hedonic scale were correlated with results from the four-point R-index scale. Correlations were highest when discrimination among the cultivars was greatest. Both methodologies effectively quantified consumer preferences, with hedonic scores expressing results in relative terms and the R-index expressing results as probabilities. Key words: Sensory evaluation, consumer preference, apple-cultivar preference, R-index