Progress 04/01/11 to 10/16/15
Outputs
Target Audience: Growers of blueberries and sweet onions. Changes/Problems: The major change in the blueberry research was to abandon the preharvest factors as other invesigators on the main project of which this work was only a part found little difference in the effect of mechanical harvesting contrary to expectation. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? This work consitituted the primary research of four graduate students, all of whom are employed in the commercial food industry. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The results have been sent to the PIs of the blueberry and sweet onion grants which provided major funding for the project. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. Information was provided to measure sensory pungency of sweet onions and relate them to lachromatory factor. This information should help in the development of nondestructive techniques to detect pungent onions and thus would not be perceived as sweet. 2. We found very little on preharvest effects on postharvest quality in either blueberry or onion other than cultivar selection. 3. A predictive model was developed for blueberry in one thesis project that was validated in a later project. the preliminary model for sweet onion has not yet been validated. 4. Mathematical models were effective in predicitng consumer acceptability for both blueberry and sweet onion.
Publications
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2012
Citation:
Addington, B.K., 2012. Consumer acceptability and quality characteristics of sweet onions and novel highbush blueberry cultivars. Electronic Resource. UGA MS thesis.
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Progress 01/01/12 to 12/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Southern highbush blueberries were collected from Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina and stored at 4C for up to two weeks. Sensory analysis was conducted using an experienced panel consisting of nine panelists who rated the crisp and non-crisp blueberry varieties using nine descriptors. Consumer acceptability tests were performed using a three-point scale of acceptability. The sensory component of twenty sweet onion selections was scored for pungency and sweetness by ten trained panelists over an eight-week period. Four onion selections were identified as follows: high pungency/high sweetness, high pungency/low sweetness, low pungency/high sweetness, and low pungency/low sweetness. These four selections were evaluated by 150 consumer panelists for degree of acceptability. A triangle test was conducted to determine if the sensory quality of onions treated with XRays differed between those not treated with X-Rays using matched sets of onions. PARTICIPANTS: Three graduate students are completing their degrees working on this project: Christine Gianella, Maureen McFerson and Katherine Robbins. One undergraduate student, Charnae Ross, and an summer intern, Makeda Foster also contributed to this research. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience includes growers, distributors, sellers and consumers of fresh blueberries and sweet onions. The blueberry research shows that the new crisp-flesh selections will be accepted by consumers providing a benefit to everyone in the production and marketing chain. The onion research has helped relate sensory research to nondestructive testing PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Results showed that there was significant difference in firmness and crispness (p less than 0.05), among crisp versus non crisp blueberry cultivars. Sweetcrisp, a crisp cultivar from Florida, had the highest overall superior plus acceptable rating among consumers (94.4 percent) and Rebel, a non-crisp selection from Georgia, had the lowest acceptability rating (52.5 percent). Chi Square Goodness of Fit test validated previous predictive models. The research demonstrates qualitative and quantitative differences in textural properties between crisp and non-crisp cultivars. The model relating consumer acceptability to sensory quality developed previously was validated. These results, when combined with those of previous years, show that consumers prefer the crisp Southern highbush cultivars to their non-crisp counterparts. Onion selections with high sweetness were preferred by consumers at both levels of pungency over those selections with low sweetness. Only one-third of the difference test panelists were able to correctly identify the different sample. Thus we conclude that onion flavor is not significantly affected by XRay technology that could be used to non-destructively screen onions for internal defects.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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