Consumer Acceptability and Sensory Profile of Three New Celery (Apium graveolens) Hybrids and Their Parental Genotypes

Abstract

Celery is a stalky green vegetable that is grown and consumed globally and used in many cuisines for its distinctive taste and flavour. Previous investigations identified the aroma composition of celery and profiled its sensory characteristics using a trained panel; however, evaluation of the sensory characteristics of celery combined with a consumer panel, where consumer preferences and acceptability are determined, is novel. In this study, three parental genotypes (12, 22 and 25) and three new hybrids (12x22, 22x12 and 25x12) were presented to a trained sensory panel (n = 12) for profiling and a consumer panel (n = 118), where liking and preference were assessed. Celery samples were analysed by SPME GC–MS and significant differences in aroma composition between all samples were identified, causing significant differences in the sensory profile. Furthermore, significant differences in attributes assessed for liking (appearance, aroma, texture and overall) were identified. Consumer segmentation identified three groups of consumers exhibiting differences in the hedonic reaction to the samples. Sweet and bitter taste along with overall flavour were identified as drivers of liking. Hybrid 25x12 was found to be the hybrid that exhibited high intensities for most of the attributes assessed.

Genome-wide identification and analysis of terpene synthase (TPS) genes in celery reveals their regulatory roles in terpenoid biosynthesis

“…The results showed that the volatile compounds in celery mainly consisted of terpenes (70%). Among them, the most critical compounds were b-Myrcene, D-Limonene, b-Ocimene, and g-Terpinene, consistent with the literature (Tu and Qin, 2017;Yan et al, 2021;Turner et al, 2021a;Turner et al, 2021b). PCA analysis of 10 significantly different terpenoids found that (E)-b-Ocimene, D-Limonene, b-Myrcene and g-Terpiene were most likely to affect the compound content indicating that the difference in content between these four compounds led to differences in celery terpenoid compounds across different parts and different varieties.…”