Choice Fruit Research Articles

Measuring socio-economic position in dietary research: is choice of socio-economic indicator important?

To examine the association between socio-economic position (SEP) and diet, by assessing the unadjusted and simultaneously adjusted (independent) contributions of education, occupation and household income to food purchasing behaviour. The sample was randomly selected using a stratified two-stage cluster design, and the response rate was 66.4%. Data were collected by face-to-face interview. Food purchasing was examined on the basis of three composite indices that reflected a household's choice of grocery items (including meat and chicken), fruit and vegetables. Brisbane City, Australia, 2000. : Non-institutionalised residents of private dwellings located in 50 small areas (Census Collectors Districts). When shopping, respondents in lower socio-economic groups were less likely to purchase grocery foods that were high in fibre and low in fat, salt and sugar. Disadvantaged groups purchased fewer types of fresh fruits and vegetables, and less often, than their counterparts from more advantaged backgrounds. When the relationship between SEP and food purchasing was examined using each indicator separately, education and household income made an unadjusted contribution to purchasing behaviour for all three food indices; however, occupation was significantly related only with the purchase of grocery foods. When education and occupation were simultaneously adjusted for each other, the socio-economic patterning with food purchase remained largely unchanged, although the strength of the associations was attenuated. When household income was introduced into the analysis, the association between education, occupation and food purchasing behaviour was diminished or became non-significant; income, however, showed a strong, graded association with food choice. The food purchasing behaviours of socio-economically disadvantaged groups were least in accord with dietary guideline recommendations, and hence are more consistent with greater risk for the development of diet-related disease. The use of separate indicators for education, occupation and household income each adds something unique to our understanding of how socio-economic position is related to diet: each indicator reflects a different underlying social process and hence they are not interchangeable, and do not serve as adequate proxies for one another.

The case for fruit quality: an interpretive review of consumer attitudes, and preferences for apples

The economic well being of the apple industry has been improved through development of products and/or technologies that allow new markets to be exploited, through increases in efficiency, and through the reduction in losses associated with the need to store products. While it is relatively straightforward to assess the economic benefits associated with reducing storage costs, and eliminating disorders that develop during storage of products, it is more difficult to assess the benefits associated by improving overall quality. Quality is usually defined as all those characteristics of a food (not just the sensory characteristics) that lead a consumer to be satisfied with the product [Food Qual. Preference 6 (1995) 163]. In this review, we focus more specifically on aspects of quality associated with texture, taste and flavour since consumer responses to these attributes are most difficult to assess in fruit. Consumer responses to fruit have been studied by diverse science disciplines including economics, psychology, marketing, postharvest, and sensory science. Results from these studies reinforce the importance of consumer beliefs, attitudes, perceptions and preferences in their choice of fruit. This information has been brought together and interpreted from a fruit biology and technology perspective.

One little Lebanese cucumber is not going to break the bank: Price in the choice of fresh fruits and vegetables

This paper reports on empirical research into individual consumer behaviour in the context of fresh fruit and vegetable purchases. The discussion draws on research results from two studies conducted around the actual shopping process. The findings suggest that consumers’ price response behaviour may not be consistent with that predicted by economic theory and that this could be significant at the aggregate level. The existence of ‘acceptable price ranges’ points to the presence of price thresholds within which consumers are relatively insensitive to price movements. Also of relevance is that the primary influence of the budget constraint may be at a broader level rather than at the level of choosing particular products.

The response of captive silvereyes (Zosterops lateralis) to the colour and size of fruit

Birds are important consumers and dispersers of the seeds of fleshy fruit and some have been shown to be selective in their choice of fruit. However, our knowledge of how birds respond to a variety of fruit characteristics is poor. Some birds are known to avoid green fruit or consume them less than fruit of other colours. The fruit of many plant species are green when they are unripe and contain low concentrations of sugars and high concentrations of secondary compounds. In this study, captive silvereyes (Zosterops lateralis) were presented with a choice of red, white and green artificial fruit. Half of them were given these fruit with equal sugar concentrations (15%) and the other half were given the choice but with the green fruit having a sugar concentration twice that of the other two colours (30%). Green fruit were not strongly avoided by silvereyes and were actually preferred when they had a higher sugar concentration than the other two fruit types (red and white). Sugar concentration was therefore a more important determinant of fruit choice than colour. Fruit size is also known to affect fruit choice in some bird species. Small fruit are easier to consume than larger fruit, but contain less pulp. To maximise energy gain, birds should consume fruit that are large, but not large enough to incur high handling costs. Silvereyes in this study were presented with a choice between 20 artificial fruit 4 mm in diameter (large fruit) and 20 artificial fruit 2 mm in diameter (small fruit), both of which they are able to consume. In this experiment, silvereyes exhibited a strong preference for large fruit over small fruit. In general, larger fruit contain more pulp and therefore more energy than smaller fruit. However, other fruit traits, such as seed load, are likely to influence fruit choice by silvereyes in the wild and result in a trait hierarchy.

Can fruits and vegetables and activities substitute for snack foods?

This study investigated the choice of snack foods versus fruits and vegetables and enjoyable sedentary behaviors using a computerized behavioral choice task. Thirty-nine participants were provided the choice of earning points for snack foods or fruits and vegetables (Condition 1) or snack foods or enjoyable sedentary behaviors (Condition 2). The behavioral cost to gain access to snacks increased across trials, whereas the behavioral costs to obtain alternatives to snack foods remained constant across trials. Results showed that when costs for snack foods and alternatives were equal, participants chose snack foods, but as the behavioral costs increased, participants shifted choice to the alternatives. The switch point for both alternatives was equal. Results suggest that fruits and vegetables and sedentary activities can substitute for snack foods when the behavioral cost for snack foods is increased.

The impact of child-targeted dietary counseling of parents on food (milk) preferences of preschool-aged children in the STRIP project

Objective: To evaluate the food choices of the 6.5-year-old children in the STRIP trial. Design: 6.5-year-old children (n=102) were randomly selected for this study from participants (n=1062) in the Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project (STRIP), which began at the child's age of 6 months and is a prospective long-term coronary heart disease prevention trial. The children and their families (n=1054) were randomized in the main project to form an intervention and a control group. The intervention families were repeatedly counseled to reduce child's intake of saturated fat and cholesterol. Using 50 pictures of individual food items, the children were asked to pick out their this morning's, yesterday's, last weekend's breakfast, the she/he would like to have, the the child thought the parents would like him/ her to have, and a breakfast. Results: More intervention than control children (n=98 in the final analysis) chose skim milk in all the questions. The different bread spread choices of the intervention and the control children were always very similar. The children in both groups explained the meaning of a healthy breakfast most frequently (45-47% of answers) as a meal that makes one feel good and prevents sickness. Conclusions: Our data suggest that in the STRIP trial, after repeated child-targeted dietary counseling of the parents, the intervention children at the age of 6.5 years pretty well accepted skim milk for breakfast. It was only for milk that the extensive parental counseling seemed to have had an effect. There was no difference between groups with respect to the choice of fruit and vegetables. Keywords: Fat, food choice, intervention, milk, preschool children

Oviposition preference hierarchy in Ceratitis capitata (Diptera, Tephritidae): influence of female age and experience

The influence of two factors, age and previous experience, on the oviposition hierarchy preference of Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann, 1824) females was studied. Two populations were analyzed: one reared in laboratory during 17 years and the other captured in nature. In the first experiment the oviposition preference for four fruits, papaya, orange, banana and apple was tested at the beginning of oviposition period and 20 days past. The results showed that the wild females as much the laboratory ones had an oviposition preference hierarchy at the beginning of peak period of oviposition. However this hierarchic preference disappeared in a later phase of life. In the second experiment the females were previously exposed to fruits of different hierarchic positions and afterwards their choice was tested in respect to the oviposition preference for those fruits. The results showed that there was an influence of the previous experience on the posterior choice of fruits to oviposition when the females were exposed to fruits of lower hierarchic position.

Within Plant Sampling Procedures—Fruit Variation in Kiwifruit Vines

Costs of fruit assessment often dictate that only a sample of fruit is taken for analysis. To ensure the sample results are consistent with those expected from the whole fruit population, selected fruit must be representative of the fruit population under investigation and the sample estimate should be unbiased. Samples of fruit from kiwifruit ( Actinidia deliciosavar. deliciosa) vines grown on T-bar trellis systems were harvested and the mass of each individual fruit within the sample recorded. The choice of an individual fruit was completely objective and consisted of systematically selecting fruit based on their hierarchical location within the vine. Fruit not included in the sample were also harvested and weighed. The fruit were assigned to a zone based on their position within the vine canopy. Comparison of the sample estimates with the expected values showed the sample gave a reliable estimate of the average harvest mass. Errors in sampling technique were identified by the comparison of the locations of the sampled fruits with the those from the expected sample set. These operator errors were divided into two classes; incorrect lateral choice within a cane and wrongly sampled fruits within an individual lateral. With respect to fruit weight, analysis of the two classes of error indicated that neither source had any significant effect on the reliability of the sample.

Social interaction and the management of Songhay socio-political change

Opening ParagraphKwaara banda daarey, hala ga kano, yeow s'a gar. The stranger (no matter how long he/she has lived in a town) will never possess the choicest fruit of the daarey tree behind the village.The daarey tree (Ziziphus jujuba) is found in and around Songhay towns in the Republic of Niger. Since its sweet red fruit is coveted, the whereabouts of the finest daarey are never divulged to foreigners, lest they steal from the Songhay that which is most delicious in their communities. The proverb underscores just how careful the Songhay are in protecting from non-Songhay that which is their own. It also suggests that just as non-Songhay will never possess the choicest daarey fruits, so too they will neither marry the most beautiful Songhay maidens nor become influential in community affairs. The most beautiful maidens, like the best daarey trees, are kept from the sight of non-Songhay; the sociocultural knowledge which enables a person to be perceived as influential is never taught directly to those who have migrated to the lands of the Songhay.

Studies on the Choice of Citrus Fruit at Market and Its Qualities

Studies on the Choice of Citrus Fruit at Market and Its Qualities

Studies on the Choice of Citrus Fruit at Market and Its Qualities

Studies on the Choice of Citrus Fruit at Market and Its Qualities

The Geography of North America: A History of Its Regional Exposition

HE appearance of Baulig's America, which has just been published,' is an event of outstanding importance to American geography. In this work the French school of geography has applied itself to the continent that interests us most. The result is a work that represents the full fruition of the regional method of modern geography. As regards other continents and major areas of the world this method has already borne choice fruit, as is attested by the other volumes in the series of which this work forms a part and by the number of excellent syntheses that have been produced by professional geographers since the beginning of the modern development of their subject about fifty or sixty years ago. Even as regards North America that development has yielded, as will presently appear, seven or eight works in four languages (three of them within the last three years) that meet the standards of modern regional exposition. But among these, by the amplitude of its canvas, the completeness and balance of its treatment, the penetration of the source material, and the quality and integrat on of its illustrations, Baulig's work stands supreme.