Sensory attributes and consumer appreciation of fresh apricots with white seed coats

Abstract

Forty-seven apricot genotypes with white and brown seed coats were analyzed by both sensory and instrumental methods. The overall appreciation of apricots was mainly affected by attributes such as aroma, sweetness, juiciness, flesh color, stone color, and fruit shape and size. In terms of these attributes, fruits with white seed coats ranked first, scoring the highest hedonic score for overall appreciation (8.0 ± 0.2). They also had the highest total soluble solid (TSS) (27.5 ± 3.6°Brix), reducing sugar (17.5 ± 1.9%), and total sugar (20.3 ± 1.9%) values, while the moisture content (68.9 ± 8.3%) was the lowest among the analyzed genotypes. Consumers were attracted to the unique white seed coat phenotype. Relationships between data obtained by the sensory panel and instrumental methods were established. Overall appreciation showed positive significant relation with TSS (R2 = 0.177, p ≤ 0.01), TSS/total acid (R2 = 0.118, p ≤ 0.05), reducing sugar (R2 = 0.140, p ≤ 0.01), total sugar (R2 = 0.177, p ≤ 0.01), and fruit weight (R2 = 0.230, p ≤ 0.001). Statistically significant negative relation was observed between overall appreciation and fruit moisture content (R2 = 0.168, p ≤ 0.01). The study demonstrated that white seed coat phenotype can be considered a marker for high-quality apricots in terms of aroma, sweetness, juiciness, and overall appreciation.