Comparison Between Sensory and Instrumental Measurements for Mealiness Assessment in Apples. A Collaborative Test

Abstract

Definition and establishment of assessment procedures for mealiness of apple fruits using sensory and instrumental measurements were performed on ‘Boskoop', ‘Cox's Orange Pippin’ and ‘Jonagold’ samples with varying degrees of mealiness. The sensory procedure profiled mealiness as a loss of crispness, hardness, and juiciness, with an increase in the floury sensation in the mouth. High correlations between the sensory descriptors and instrumental parameters was shown through principal component analysis. The instrumental procedures (confined compression of fruit cylinders and acoustic impulse response) gave coefficients of determination for juiciness and crispness of 0.85 and 0.71, respectively. This level of accuracy indicates the possibility of establishing

Mealiness assessment in apples and peaches using MRI techniques

“…Within a wide project devoted to the study of mealiness in fruits, consumers perception and means for detection, several instrumental procedures have been tested for mealiness assessment [1]. In this sense, our laboratory has focused its aims in a first stage on performing instrumental tests for assessing some textural descriptors as crispiness, hardness and juiciness.…”

“…Mealiness is a negative attribute of sensory texture that combines the sensation of a desegregated tissue with the sensation of lack of juiciness [1]. Peach mealy textures are also known as woolliness and leatheriness.…”

A mathematical model for the development of mealiness in apples

“…Sensory analysis has shown that mealiness can be characterised by a combination of a lack of crispiness, a lack of juiciness and a lack of hardness (Barreiro et al, 1998b). Crispiness appears to be a characteristic which is lost soon after harvest, whereas hardness and juiciness decrease more gradually during storage.…”

“…The model explains the development of the hardness, tensile strength and juiciness of apple tissue. These mechanical parameters have been shown to be directly related to mealiness as perceived by sensory panels (Barreiro et al, 1998b).…”

“…Mealiness reduces the quality of the fruit, and, henee, its commercial valué, and in apple develops during storage and depends on the air composition, temperature and relative humidity. It can be induced by applying room temperature (20 °C) and high relative humidity (95%; Barreiro et al, 1998b). Apples stored in refrigerated but normal air conditions develop a mealy texture much faster than apples under ultra low oxygen (ULO) conditions (De Smedt, 2000).…”