Sensory characterization of the perceived quality of East African highland cooking bananas (matooke)

Open Access ArticleBACKGROUND It has recently become increasingly evident that banana projects in Uganda need to consider consumer preferences as part of the breeding process to increase the acceptability of new cultivars. A trained panel used quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) as a tool to assess the sensory characteristics of 32 cooking bananas (matooke). The aim was to investigate which sensory characteristics best describe matooke. RESULTS Fourteen descriptors were generated. The preferred attributes of matooke were high-intensity yellow color, homogeneous distribution of yellow color, good matooke aroma, highly moldable by touch, moist and smooth in the mouth. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences in the yellowness, homogeneity of color, firmness, moistness, smoothness, matooke aroma, hardness, and moldability across the genotypes (P < 0.05). Principal component analysis (PCA) showed strong positive correlations between yellowness and homogeneity of the color (R = 0.92). Smoothness in the mouth and moldability by touch were strongly and positively correlated (R = 0.88). Firmness in the mouth was well predicted by hardness to touch (R2 = 0.85). The matooke samples were ranked into two sensory clusters by agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC). CONCLUSION The study showed attribute terms that could be used to describe matooke and also revealed that QDA may be used as a tool during the assessment and selection of new cooking banana hybrids to identify relevant sensory attributes because of its ability to discriminate among the banana hybrids

Report on consumer acceptability tests of NARITA hybrids in Tanzania and Uganda

Consumer acceptability tests of NARITA hybrids were conducted with a total of 572 randomly selected men and women farmers from 5 sites in different agro-ecological zones in Tanzania and Uganda (Maruku, Mitalula and Moshi in Tanzania; Kawanda and Mbarara in Uganda). Evaluations were done between July and November 2018 under the project ‘Improvement of banana for smallholder farmers in the Great Lakes Region of Africa’. At each site, focus group discussions (FGDs) were first conducted with different age groups: young women, young men (35 years) to ascertain the main products households make using cooking banana cultivars and the preparation method. The most important product was then prepared in each site - steamed matooke in both Uganda sites and boiled fingers in all Tanzania sites. On a given day, about 100 farmers were each provided with coded samples of four NARITA hybrids plus one local check and asked to rate each sample on a 5-point hedonic scale for the following attributes: colour, aroma, texture in hand, taste, mouthfeel and overall acceptability. This report provides results that can help inform the selection of the best NARITAs to take on-farm and subsequent varietal release

Profiling Culinary Properties of East African Highland Cooking Bananas to Enhance Hybrid Selection Efficiency

In many tropical households, the East African Highland Cooking Bananas (EAHCB) referred to as “Matooke” in Uganda are a staple food. Despite its importance, the crop is faced with numerous challenges such as drought, soil fertility, pests, and diseases that threaten its production and productivity. To curb this, banana breeding was developed as one of the strategies to avert the depletion of these bananas through the development of not only pests and disease resistant cultivars but also drought tolerant and high yielding cultivars. The pressure to satisfy the growing global population is also mounting, hence the need to increase production for food security. Breeding has proven to be an approach by which food production is boosted through the development of high yielding and fast-growing varieties. Unfortunately, not so many cooking banana hybrids that have been developed and released are cultivated by farmers as most are rejected as a result of consumer perception of them. The hybrids sometimes possess culinary properties considered inferior. Consumer demands are pertinent in any product development. This review aimed to determine the key factors that influenced consumer perception and acceptability of improved cooking banana hybrids. The data sources used for this study were Google Scholar, PubMed, AgEcon, Sciencedirect.com, CABI Abstracts, and organizational websites (FAO, RTBFoods, and CGIAR). The keywords and search terms used were “East African Highland cooking bananas”, “consumer acceptability”, “sensory attributes”, “culinary properties,” “hybrid selection”, and “banana breeding”. This article presents a summary of banana production and its challenges, banana breeding and its successes, consumer perception, and acceptability of banana hybrids, and profiles the consumer traits responsible for the acceptance or rejection of new hybrids. Overall, the most important culinary properties for both preference and acceptance of new hybrids were the perceived deep yellow color of the cooked matooke, soft texture, smooth mouthfeel, “matooke” aroma, and non-astringent taste, all summed up as “tookeness”. Attributes for rejection included possession of mixed colors of the cooked matooke, absence of deep yellow color, lack of “matooke” aroma, hard placentas, and hard texture. Knowledge of product attributes that lead to the acceptance of new products is vital for breeders and this information could guide them during the development and selection of hybrids for release

Profling Culinary Properties of East African Highland Cooking Bananas to Enhance Hybrid Selection

In many tropical households, the East African Highland Cooking Bananas (EAHCB) referred to as “Matooke” in Uganda are a staple food. Despite its importance, the crop is faced with numerous challenges such as drought, soil fertility, pests, and diseases that threaten its production and productivity. To curb this, banana breeding was developed as one of the strategies to avert the depletion of these bananas through the development of not only pests and disease resistant cultivars but also drought tolerant and high yielding cultivars. The pressure to satisfy the growing global population is also mounting, hence the need to increase production for food security. Breeding has proven to be an approach by which food production is boosted through the development of high yielding and fast-growing varieties. Unfortunately, not so many cooking banana hybrids that have been developed and released are cultivated by farmers as most are rejected as a result of consumer perception of them. The hybrids sometimes possess culinary properties considered inferior. Consumer demands are pertinent in any product development. This review aimed to determine the key factors that influenced consumer perception and acceptability of improved cooking banana hybrids. The data sources used for this study were Google Scholar, PubMed, AgEcon, Sciencedirect.com, CABI Abstracts, and organizational websites (FAO, RTBFoods, and CGIAR). The keywords and search terms used were “East African Highland cooking bananas”, “consumer acceptability”, “sensory attributes”, “culinary properties,” “hybrid selection”, and “banana breeding”. This article presents a summary of banana production and its challenges, banana breeding and its successes, consumer perception, and acceptability of banana hybrids, and profiles the consumer traits responsible for the acceptance or rejection of new hybrids. Overall, the most important culinary properties for both preference and acceptance of new hybrids were the perceived deep yellow color of the cooked matooke, soft texture, smooth mouthfeel, “matooke” aroma, and non-astringent taste, all summed up as “tookeness”. Attributes for rejection included possession of mixed colors of the cooked matooke, absence of deep yellow color, lack of “matooke” aroma, hard placentas, and hard texture. Knowledge of product attributes that lead to the acceptance of new products is vital for breeders and this information could guide them during the development and selection of hybrids for release

Combined use of sensory methods for the selection of root, tuber and banana varieties acceptable to end-users

BACKGROUND The assessment of user acceptability in relation to crop quality traits should be a full part of breeding selection programs. Our methodology is based on a combination of sensory approaches to evaluate the sensory characteristics and user acceptability of root, tuber and banana (RTB) varieties. RESULTS The four-stepped approach links sensory characteristics to physicochemical properties and end-user acceptance. It starts with the development of key quality traits using qualitative approaches (surveys and ranking) and it applies a range of sensory tests such as Quantitative Descriptive Analysis with a trained panel, Check-All-That-apply, 9-point hedonic scale and Just-About-Right with consumers. Results obtained on the same samples from the consumer acceptance, sensory testing, and physicochemical testing are combined to explore correlations and develop acceptability thresholds. CONCLUSIONS A combined qualitative and quantitative approach involving different sensory techniques is necessary to capture sensory acceptance of products from new RTB clones. Some sensory traits can be correlated to physicochemical characteristics and could be evaluated using laboratory instruments (e.g. texture). Other traits (e.g. aroma and mealiness) are more difficult to predict, and the use of a sensory panel is still necessary. For these latter traits, more advanced physicochemical methods that could accelerate the breeding selection through high throughput phenotyping are still to be developed

Sensory guided selection criteria for breeding consumer-preferred sweetpotatoes in Uganda

Prioritizing sensory attributes and consumer evaluation early in breeding trials to screen for end-user preferred traits could improve adoption rates of released genotypes. In this study, a lexicon and protocol for descriptive sensory analysis (DSA) was established for sweetpotato and used to validate an instrumental texture method for which critical values for consumer preference were set. The study comprised several phases: lexicon development during a 4-day workshop; 3-day intensive panel training; follow-up virtual training, evaluation of 12 advanced genotypes and 101 additional samples from two trials in 2021 by DSA and instrumental texture analysis using TPA double compression; and DSA, instrumental texture analysis and consumer acceptability tests on 7 genotypes in on-farm trials. The established sweetpotato lexicon comprising 27 sensory attributes enabled characterization and differentiation of genotypes by sensory profiles. Significant correlation was found between sensory firmness by hand and mouth with TPA peak positive force (r = 0.695 and r = 0.648, respectively) and positive area (r = 0.748, r = 0.715, respectively). D20, NAROSPOT 1, NASPOT 8, and Umbrella were the most liked genotypes in on-farm trials (overall liking = 7). An average peak positive force of 3700 gf was proposed as a minimum texture value for screening sweetpotato genotypes, since it corresponded with at least 46 % of consumers perceiving sweetpotatoes as just-about-right in firmness and a minimum overall liking of 6 on average. Combining DSA with instrumental texture analysis facilitates efficient screening of genotypes in sweetpotato breeding programs

Review of instrumental texture measurements as phenotypic tool to assess textural diversity of root, tuber and banana food products

Roots, tubers and bananas (RTBs) contribute immensely to food security and livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America. The adoption of RTB genotypes in these regions relies on the interplay among agronomic traits, ease of processing and consumer preference. In breeding RTBs, until recently, little attention was accorded key textural traits preferred by consumers. Moreover, a lack of standard, discriminant, repeatable protocols that can be used to measure the textural traits deter linkages between breeding better RTB genotypes and end user/consumer's preferences. RTB products texture i.e. behaviour of RTB food products under unique deformations, such as disintegration and the flow of a food under force - is a critical component of these preferences. The preferences consumers have for certain product texture can be evaluated from expert sensory panel and consumer surveys, which are useful tools in setting thresholds for textural traits, and inform breeders on what to improve in the quality of RTBs. Textural characterization of RTBs under standard operating procedures (SOPs) is important in ensuring the standardization of texture measurement conditions, predictability of textural quality of RTBs, and ultimately definition of RTB food product profiles (FPPs). This paper reviews current SOPs for the textural characterization of RTBs, including their various associated methods, parameters, challenges and merits. Case studies of texture characterized during development of SOPs and evaluation of texture of RTB populations is discussed and insights into key textural attributes and correlations between instrumental, sensory and consumer assessment of texture unique to various RTB food products. Hardness was considered a universal key textural attribute to discriminate RTBs. The review should provide adequate insight into texture of RTB food products and critical factors in their measurement. It aims to promote inclusion of texture in breeding pipelines by investigating which textural traits are prioritized by consumers, particularly since the inclusion of textural traits is recently gaining prominence by breeders in improving RTBs