Evaluation of Consumer Acceptance of West Coast versus East Coast-produced Broccoli through Sensory Analysis of Quality Rating Factors and Nutritionally Important Metabolites

Production trials and germplasm evaluation of broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) developed for eastern U.S. production conditions have identified lines and cultivars that are better adapted to more stressful, variable East Coast environments. As a part of this work sponsored by the USDA SCIR grant program we conducted sensory analysis of broccoli grown in California vs. South Carolina.  The project objective was to evaluate potential consumer acceptance of broccoli grown in the eastern U.S. relative to broccoli grown and shipped from the traditional West Coast production areas.  A sensory panel was established to determine consumer acceptance of broccoli grown and shipped from California (CA) vs. broccoli grown in South Carolina (SC). All samples were cooked before evaluation. One of the SC (SC1) lines was similar in head shape (domed) and color to the CA sample. The other SC line (SC2) was lighter green in color and had a less domed shape head.  The sensory panel (n=100) evaluated all samples for appearance, color, overall liking, overall liking of flavor, sweetness intensity, and bitterness.  The evaluation was based on hedonic and intensity scores. The CA and the SC1 samples were liked equally overall and both were liked more than the SC2 samples.  The overall flavor of all three CA, SC1 and SC2 was liked equally.  CA samples were sweeter than SC2 samples but equally sweet as SC1 samples.  CA and SC1 samples were less bitter than SC2 samples.  Panelist were asked to indicate if the color of the broccoli samples was too light, just about right or too dark.  The majority of panelist thought that the color of CA and SC1 was just about right. However, they thought that SC2 was too light.  Those who thought that the color was too light gave lower overall liking scores (4.9) to the sample than did those who thought that the sample color was just about right (7.1). Thus, the color was likely a major contributing factor to it being liked less than the other two samples.  We extracted four replications of each of these samples and measured, carotenoid and chlorophyll pigments (impact on color and taste); glucosinolate compounds (impact on taste/bitterness); mineral content (impact on quality in general); and sugar and organic acids (impact on flavor).  The relationship between the content of the metabolites measured and the panelist ratings will be discussed.