The EU project Hidras (High Quality Disease Resistant Apples for a sustainable agriculture, QLK5-CT-2002-01-01492) aims to identify genetic factors controlling apple fruit quality with the objective of increasing the acceptability of disease resistant apples. At Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil (ACW) we are performing ex-pert panel tests and  consumer tests. The consumer inquiry during the public fair BEA 2005, end of April 2005 in Bern, Switzerland, resulted in comprehensive information on  consumption trends in apple for dif-ferent age groups. This work is coordinated with partners in Poland and Belgium. All the age groups consid-ered flavour, juiciness and firmness as very important quality criteria for apples. The preference of apples to other fruit such as pears, bananas or citrus is more significant with adults and especially elder people. How-ever, apple was the most favourite fruit species for all age classes. Almost one third of the adults prefer an apple to other snacks. On the other hand, children prefer chips and popcorn and only 12% prefer an apple to other snacks.

The overall appearance and eating quality of scab resistant varieties (Ariane, Topaz and Goldrush) and non-resistant varieties (Gala, FAW 5878 and La Flamboyante) evaluated by the same consumers con-firmed, that the resistant varieties were competitive in respect to fruit quality with the non-resistant varieties

Eigenmann, Christian

Kellerhals, Markus

English

Organic Eprints

1 Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil ACW, P.O. Box 185, CH-8820 Wädenswil Evaluation of apple fruit quality within the EU project Hidras Beurteilung der Fruchtqualität beim Apfel im Rahmen des EU-Projektes Hidras Markus Kellerhals and Christian Eigenmann1  Abstract The EU project Hidras (High Quality Disease Resistant Apples for a sustainable agriculture, QLK5-CT-2002-01-01492) aims to identify genetic factors controlling apple fruit quality with the objective of increasing the acceptability of disease resistant apples. At Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil (ACW) we are performing ex-pert panel tests and  consumer tests. The consumer inquiry during the public fair BEA 2005, end of April 2005 in Bern, Switzerland, resulted in comprehensive information on  consumption trends in apple for differ-ent age groups. This work is coordinated with partners in Poland and Belgium. All the age groups considered flavour, juiciness and firmness as very important quality criteria for apples. The preference of apples to other fruit such as pears, bananas or citrus is more significant with adults and especially elder people. However, apple was the most favourite fruit species for all age classes. Almost one third of the adults prefer an apple to other snacks. On the other hand, children prefer chips and popcorn and only 12% prefer an apple to other snacks. The overall appearance and eating quality of scab resistant varieties (Ariane, Topaz and Goldrush) and non-resistant varieties (Gala, FAW 5878 and La Flamboyante) evaluated by the same consumers confirmed, that the resistant varieties were competitive in respect to fruit quality with the non-resistant varieties.  Keywords:  apple, breeding, consumer test, scab resistance, fruit quality Introduction The success of newly developed disease resistant apple varieties is largely dependent on their fruit quality. The introduction of high quality disease resistant apple varieties is widely considered an ef-fective approach to reduce the use of fungicides in sustainable orchard management strategies. The focus of the current EU project Hidras is put on the identification of genetic factors controlling apple fruit quality. The project consists of nine different work packages (WP), where different Euro-pean partners participate (Fig .1). The common aim is to develop high quality disease resistant va-rieties for a sustainable cultivation (Gianfranceschi und Soglio, 2004). Quality encompasses the food characteristics that satisfy expectations. To increase our knowledge on the consumer require-ments as well as the sensory and instrumental quality, Work package 7 focuses on these aspects. At Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil (ACW) we have performed expert panel tests as well as  a con-sumer test. The purpose of the expert panel tests was to characterise 20 different varieties and se-lections in a sensory profile. In order to gather information on the consumption habits of consumers and on their perception of different apple samples a consumer query and test were performed in-cluding different age groups. The aims of the consumer tests within the Hidras project are as fol-lows: Identification of fruit quality traits preferred by the European consumers To compare disease resistant varieties and progenitors to well-accepted commercial varieties To correlate sensory evaluations with instrumental analysis Define quality parameters determining the success of new apple varieties    Archived at http://orgprints.org/8932/      Figure 1: Partners and work packages of the HIDRAS-Project   Material and Methods  Expert panel test Expert panel test were performed 2 month and 4 month after harvest including shelf life tests (10 days at 20° C). The following varieties were include d in the tests. In brackets their resistances are indicated: Ariane (Vf), FAW 5878, FAW 10429 (Vf), FAW 11907 (Vf), Fuji Kiku 8, Iduna, Otava (Vf), Rubens, Sonya, Braeburn Hillwell, Elstar Elshof, FAW 11303 (Vf, MR, FR), FAW 8244 (Vf, Pl2), Goldrush (Vf), Mairac, Santana (Vf), Delblush and the standard reference cultivars were Idared and Royal Gala. Nine of the 20 tested cultivars carry one or more disease resistance genes.   We focus on the test that has been performed in two series, after 2 months of storage in regular cold store at 1° C on the 9th  and on 10th of December 2004 and after 2 months of storage + 10 days at 20° C on the 16th  and on 17th of December 2004. On average 13 panellists took part. The panellists had to evaluate the following characteristics:   External:   background colour, over colour, aroma intensity. Internal:  odour:     acidity, sweetness, other fruit aroma, fresh cut grass Taste and texture:   firmness, juiciness, taste sweet, taste sour, ripening stage, astrin-gency, overall quality.    Consumer test Within the work package 7 we performed a consumer survey and test at the public fair BEA 2005 in Bern on April 29 and 30, 2005. Three scab resistant varieties: Ariane®, Goldrush and Topaz and three susceptible varieties, FAW 5878, Royal Gala and La Flamboyante were included. The refer-ence standard cultivars were Royal Gala for the non resistant and Topaz for the resistant group. 203 persons took part. The questionnaires were adapted specifically for the different age groups:   Work Packages:  WP 1: Phenotypic assessments of fruit quality traits WP 2: Genotyping of individuals from pedigree and segregat-ing progenies WP 3: Software development (genetic mapping) WP 4: Identification and characterisation of genes with fruit modulated expression WP 5: Development of new molecular markers WP 6: Identification and characterisation of QTL alleles de-termining fruit quality WP 7: Consumer tests WP 8: Marker assisted selection WP 9: Database HiDRAS   High-Quality Disease Resistant Apples for a Sustainable Agriculture Contract N° QLK5-CT-2002-01-01492  Project Partners:  ·  University of Milan (I): Coordination ·  University of Bologna (I) ·  Plant Res. International, Wageningen (NL) ·  INRA Angers (F) ·  Federal Centre for Breeding Research on Cul-tivated Plants, Dresden (D) ·  ETH Zürich and Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil (CH) ·  East Malling Research (UK) ·  Research Center Gembloux (B)  ·  Research Center  Skierniewice (PL) ·  Warsaw Agriculture University (PL) ·  Research Centers S. Michele and Laimburg  (I)   adults (16+), young people (13-15 and 9-12) and for children (6-8). Among the adults (126 persons) there were 77 female and 49 male participants. Varieties were tasted in randomized order. A he-donic nine point scale ( 1= I fully dislike to 9 = I fully like) was used. All the fruits originated from the same plot at the research orchard Güttingen near the lake of Constance. The fruits originated from trees in their third leaf. The fruits were kept in CA store (1-1.5° C, 3 % CO 2, 1 % O2, r.H. 90-95 %) up to two weeks before the test and then in a regular cold store at 1 ° C. The fruits were analysed for firmness, sugar content and acidity using a Pimprenelle robotic machine (Tab.2 ).  Table 1: Varieties included in the consumer test (*= scab resistant) Variety  Origin  Fruit characteristics FAW 5878  Wädenswil, Switzerland (Idared x Maigold) x Elstar Medium  size,  firm,  juiciy, subacid La Flamboyante  Changins, switzerland (Gala x Maigold) Medium to large size, firm, juicy, slightly acid Royal Gala  New Zealand Kidds  Orange  x  Golden Delicious Medium  size,  firm,  juicy, sweet Goldrush*  Illinois, USA Golden  Delicious  x  Coop 17 Medium size, yellow, very firm, juicy, balanced Ariane*  Angers, France Progenitors  were  Florina, Prima,  Golden  Delicious and others Small  to  medium  size, firm, juicy, subacid Topaz*  Strizovice, Czeck Republic Rubin x Vanda Medium  size,  firm,  juicy, slightly acid   Results and Discussion  Expert Panel Test The expert panel rated the tested varieties for overall eating quality between Braeburn Hillwell as the best and Royal Gala as the poorest (Table 2). In Table 2 the perception after 2 month of regular cold store storage without shelf life test is displayed. There is no clear-cut segregation between scab resistant and scab susceptible varieties. However, it can be concluded that several scab resis-tant varieties tend to be softer and lower in sweetness than most of the non-resistant ones. There is a challenge for apple breeding to develop firmer and sweeter disease resistant varieties.                Table 2: Results of the expert panel test on December 9 and 10 2004 with fruit from regular cold store.       Variety (* = scab resistant) FIRMNESS JUICINESS Taste SWEET Taste SOUR ASTRINGENT RIPENING STAGE OVERALL QUALITY Braeburn Hillwell  7.8  7.3  5.0  4.6  1.3  4.7  6.9 FAW 5878  5.7  7.2  5.9  4.8  1.2  5.0  6.5 Delblush  6.1  6.9  6.7  4.7  0.4  6.1  6.4 Civni  4.6  6.2  6.2  4.0  1.5  6.0  6.3 FAW 10429*  4.7  6.9  5.7  4.5  1.7  6.1  5.8 Goldrush*  8.2  6.5  4.1  6.5  2.2  4.3  5.7 Fuji Kiku 8  6.3  7.3  6.5  1.8  0.8  6.4  5.6 Elstar Elshof  2.2  6.6  6.5  4.8  0.5  7.1  5.5 Sonya   5.3  7.3  8.1  1.0  0.7  7.5  5.3 FAW 11907*  7.5  6.1  2.9  7.8  2.0  4.2  5.2 Santana*  2.5  6.5  4.9  4.8  1.6  6.8  5.1 Iduna  4.9  5.3  2.6  8.2  2.2  3.6  4.9 FAW 8244*  2.6  4.0  5.8  4.6  0.6  7.1  4.8 La Flamboyante  6.2  6.7  3.2  6.9  0.9  4.8  4.7 Ariane*  5.0  5.3  3.0  7.2  2.5  4.3  4.6 Idared  3.8  6.0  4.8  4.6  1.6  6.8  4.6 FAW 11303*  8.9  5.4  3.3  6.2  2.2  3.2  4.5 Topaz*  2.2  6.0  4.7  5.9  1.5  7.1  4.5 Otava*  2.6  5.0  3.9  6.2  1.9  6.9  4.4 Royal Gala  2.7  4.8  6.2  1.9  2.0  7.5  3.6    Breaburn 0.002.004.006.008.0010.00FIRMNESSJUICINESSTaste SWEETTaste SOUR ASTRINGENTRIPENING STAGEOVERALL QUALITY2 months storage 2 months storage+ shelf lifeFAW 11907 0.002.004.006.008.0010.00FIRMNESSJUICINESSTaste SWEETTaste SOUR ASTRINGENTRIPENING STAGEOVERALL QUALITY2 months storage 2 months storage+ shelf life  Figure 2: Spider plots from the expert panel test of Braeburn and FAW 11907 to characterise the fruit quality   Sensory profiles as shown in Figure 2 are a valuable tool to describe new advanced selections of breeding  programmes  such  as  FAW  11907  in  comparison  with  successful  commercial  varieties   such as Braeburn. The spider plots display the sensory perception after 2 month of storage as well as with additional shelf life test. Consumer test The varieties FAW 5878 and La Flamboyante exhibited the best eating quality (Table 3). Among the scab resistant varieties, Ariane resulted to have the best quality and over all, it was selected as the most appealing variety. Royal Gala, a commercially well known apple variety, has been judged as appealing, but it did not convince in terms of eating quality. Unsatisfactory fruit were mainly found in the scab resistant varieties Topaz and Goldrush, but also with Gala. Topaz was probably not firm enough and Goldrush rather too firm for some consumers, whereas Gala may lack some acidity as can be deduced from the analytical values displayed in Table 3.  Table 3: Consumer test: Sensory and analytical results (n = 203)  Sensory evaluation                                          LA FLAMBOYANTE   GOLDRUSH  TOPAZ    FAW 5878  ARIANE    GALA   Appearance    7.1 ± 1.7 b  5.6 ± 2.2 d  6.2 ± 2.2 c  7.7 ± 1.6 a  7.8 ± 1.5 a  7 ± 1.7 b (1-9)      2 - 9  1 - 9  1 - 9  1 - 9  1 - 9  2 - 9 Eating quality    7.4 ± 1.7 ab  6.8 ± 2.2 c  5.9 ± 2.4 d  7.5 ± 1.6 a  7.0 ± 1.9 bc  6.1 ± 2.1 d (1-9)      2 - 9    1 - 9    1 - 9    3 - 9    1 - 9    1 – 9 Appearance   Quality  good     70    40    54    82    87    71 Rating  satisfactory  27    40    31    14    11    24 (%)  unsatisfactory  3    20    15    3    2    5   Eating quality   Quality  good     72    65    47    76    67    47 Rating  satisfactory  24    23    32    21    27    40 (%)  unsatisfactory  3    13    21    2    6    12    Fruit Analyses (Pimprenelle)                              Fruit weight (g)  193 ± 28 a  171 ± 34 ab  163 ± 15 ab  185 ± 35 a  130 ± 21 c  148 ± 12 b       143 - 239  141 - 256  140 - 196  128 - 236  105 - 189  132 – 167 Firmness (kg/cm2)  7.8 ± 1 b  9.7 ± 0.6 a  5.4 ± 0.5 e  6.5 ± 0.6 d  7.8 ± 0.5 b  7.1 ± 0.5 c       6.3 - 9.4  8.8 - 10.9  4.4 - 6.2  5.7 - 7.8  7 - 8.6    6.2 - 7.6 Sugar       13.6 ± 0.9 b  15.2 ± 1.2 a  12.6 ± 0.4 c  13.6 ± 0.9 b  12.3 ± 0.5 c  12.3 ± 0.4 c (° Brix)       12.4 - 15.3  13.2 - 17.2  11.8 - 13.2  12.6 - 15.3  10.7 - 13  11.6 – 13 Malic Acid (g/l)   6.5    8.1    5.1    5.3    6.2    3.6   Mean values and standard deviation. Different letters after the values means significant difference. (SPSS, LSD-test, p<0.05). Below the mean values the range of values is displayed in italic.   Participants confirmed in the inquiry that eating an apple as a snack is very popular. 31% of the adult participants eat preferably sweets, while 29% prefer apples. The most important quality traits to consumers are a good flavour and juiciness (Figure 3). Compared to the adult participants, young people judged sweetness and skin colour as more important, whereas nutritional values were less important. According to Kuhn and Thybo (2001) children (aged 9-13 years) tend to respond more positively to attributes such as sweetness and flavour of apples than adults who tend to respond to texture and sourness. In all age groups, apple is the favourite fruit and its appreciation increases with age.    0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% skin coloursizesournesssweetnessnutritional valuesfirmness juiciness flavourvery important important rather important rather unimportant totally unimportant  Figure 3: Importance of apple characteristics, consumer survey, BEA Bern, Switzerland, April 2005, people > 16 years old, n=126  Leumann et al. (2004) found that for a majority of the consumers interviewed at a Swiss supermar-ket Coop near Zürich, eating quality was more important than the production method such as or-ganic or integrated production.  Conclusions  Sensory profiling is a valuable tool to evaluate the market potential und success of apple varieties and  advanced  selections  from  breeding  programmes.  The  expert  panel  test  reported  here  has shown that disease resistant apples are competitive with non-resistant varieties. However, some of them lack firmness and sweetness.  Consumers consider  apples as a healthy snack. It should exhibit a good flavour and it should be juicy. The elder the consumers the more they prefer apples to other snacks. Children and young people know much less about apples but they respond positively if apples are properly presented and suitable education is made. There is potential for increasing the apple consumption of young people. FAW 5878 and La Flamboyante were rated best among the varieties tested by consumers. Of the scab resistant varieties, Ariane was preferred to the others. Moreover, Ariane was consid-ered the most attractive variety of all six. Gala, being attractive and very successful in the market-place could not convince in respect to eating quality. In general there was no significant difference in appreciation of scab resistant versus non-resistant varieties. Therefore we conclude that there is scope for the successful introduction of high quality disease resistant varieties.  Acknowledgements We thank all participants who took part in the expert panel and in consumer tests. This project is supported by the Swiss Federal Office for Education and Science and by the EU commission (Con-  tract Nr. QLK5-CT-2002-01492, DG Science Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources programs).  Literature Cited Gianfranceschi L. und Soglio V. 2004: The European Project HIDRAS: Innovative Multidisciplinary Approaches to Breeding High Quality Disease Resistant Apples. Acta Horticulturae 663, 327-330. Leumann R., Kellerhals M., Schärer H. und Höhn E.2004: Konsumententest von Diwa®, Elstar und Idared mit Befragung zum Apfelkonsum. Schweiz. Z. Obst-Weinbau 140 (21), 6-9, 2004. Kuhn, B.F., Thybo, A.K., 2001. The influence of sensory and physiochemical quality on Danish chil-dren’s preferences for apples. Food Quali. Preference 12, 543-550.     

Beurteilung der Fruchtqualität beim Apfel im Rahmen des EU-Projekts Hidras

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