Bridging the Gap Between the Grower and the Consumer: The Role of Sensory Analysis in Cultivar Trials

While consumers often make fruit and vegetable purchasing decisions based on appearance the first time, repeat purchases are based on their past experience, including the taste, texture and aroma of the product. Cultivars can vary greatly in their sensory characteristics; for example, think of the differences in texture and taste between a ‘Granny Smith’ and ‘Red Delicious’ apple. In order to provide growers with a complete picture of the cultivar they choose to grow, beyond yield and disease resistance, sensory evaluation plays an important role. Sensory analysis is often used to assess consumer acceptance of new products and is a valuable tool in branding and marketing (i.e., Vidalia onions). Several types of sensory tests that can be incorporated into cultivar trials will be discussed in this talk, including discrimination or difference tests, descriptive analyses and affective or hedonic tests. This talk will outline how to plan for a sensory test in your field trial, how to set up a sensory analysis in the lab and statistical analysis of sensory data.