Sensory evaluation and electronic tongue for sensing grafted and non-grafted watermelon taste attributes

Abstract

The objective of our study was to analyse the results of two measuring methods (sensory evaluation and electronic tongue) and to find differences in taste between grafted and non-grafted watermelon fruit. The trained sensory panel evaluated in two years three differently treated watermelon fruit. The studied fruit samples were produced on the same growing-areas in both years but with different growing technologies. The experiment used the non-grafted/self-rooted watermelon as control sample, while the other two treatments were grafting on two rootstock types: a Lagenaria and an interspecific squash hybrid rootstock. The electronic tongue measurement showed that it is the environment/growing technology that mainly determines the characteristics of the fruit quality, not grafting. The two measurement methods can complement each other in a detailed and practical way, as technology and growing area strongly influence the quality of watermelon fruit. The research also showed that it is possible to have similar watermelon fruit quality, independently from the used rootstock type.