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Florence Zakharov
Plant Sciences, UC Davis
fnegre@ucdavis.edu
Organoleptic Quality
Measurements
Sensory Attributes of Fruits
Appearance
Taste
Odor/smell/aroma
Irritation
Texture/mouthfeel
Temperature
Flavor
Appearance
Shape, size
Color (uniformity, intensity)
Gloss (wax)
Taste Perception and
Produce Composition
Quality Class of compound Examples
Sweet Sugars
Sucrose, fructose,
glucose
Sour Acids
Citric acid, tartaric
acid, malic acid
Bitter Alkaloids, phenylpropanoids,
terpenoids
Isocoumarins, quinine,
nicotine, limonoids
Salty Ions Sodium, calcium
Umami Amino acids Glutamate, aspartate
Some proteins Thaumatin, monellin
Sweet Taste Rapid Methods
TOTAL Soluble Solids = sugars, organic acids,
soluble pectins, anthocyanins, phenolic
compounds, ascorbic acid
Sour Taste Rapid Methods
pH
Titratable acidity
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Fruit Composition Analysis
by HPLC
High Performance (or Pressure) Liquid Chromatography
Extraction with water or organic
solvent
Separation depending on the nature
of the compound to analyze
Detection by UV/Vis, Refractive
Index, Fluorescence, MS
Texture
Penetrometer
Texture Analyzer
Aroma (Volatiles)
Orthonasal
route
Retronasal
route
What is a volatile compound?
A small molecule which has a high tendency to
evaporate.
Volatiles are naturally produced by plants (from almost
all plant organs) and animals.
Fruit aromas are made up of complex mixtures of
volatile compounds (recall strawberry over 200!).
Extraction
Separation
Detection
Analysis
?
How do we analyze volatile
compounds?
Dynamic
Headspace
Solvent
Extraction
Extraction of Volatiles
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Separation of Volatiles in
Mixture
GC
MS
Gas chromatography (GC)
GC Oven
GC
Column
Sample
Inlet
I
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s
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Time
Separation of Volatiles in
Mixture
Hexyl acetate
Detection of Volatiles
Mass Spectrometry
(GC-MS)
Time
I
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Object Mug!!
O
Detection of Volatiles
Portable devices: Electronic Noses
(+) Faster analysis
(+) Cheaper than GC-MS
(-) Training requirement
(-) Generally less sensitive
How does a volatile smell like?
Each single volatile compound has a distinct
smell.
Floral, woody,
sweet, fruity,
berry, green
Sulfurous,
vegetable,
cabbage, onion
-ionone Dimethyl disulfide Myrcene
Peppery, spicy,
plastic
Fruit aromas are complex
A natural aroma, smell or odor is typically made
up of tens or sometimes hundreds of different
volatile compounds.
A mixture of volatile compounds is not perceived
as the sum of its parts: volatiles interact to create
a unique, distinct, aroma.
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Aroma Analysis and
Product Quality
Odor thresholds (minimum concentration of a substance at
which a majority of test subjects can detect and identify the substance
characteristic odor)
Odor descriptors
Hexyl acetate
apple, cherry,
floral, pear, wine
2-Ethyl hexanol
citrus, fresh,
floral, oily, sweet
2-Methyl
butyl acetate
banana, candy,
citrus
5 ppb
270,000 ppb
2 ppb
?
Sensory Attributes and Fruit
Composition
All fruit components (sugars, acids, volatiles,
etc) combine to generate a unique sensory
experience for the consumer.
Physical methods give accurate measurements of
fruit composition but it is difficult to relate these
measurements to fruit quality without information
about sensory perception.
Does citrus postharvest handling influence eating quality of
navel oranges?
M. L. Arpaia and D. Obenland
Field Bin Washer Waxer Packed Box
1 2 3
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Packing House Fruit Sampling Scheme
Does the packing line affect fruit flavor?
6.4 a 6.1 a 6.1 a 6.0 b
Average Acceptability (Hedonic Score)
Fruit stored at 41F for 0, 3, 6 weeks followed by 4 days
at 68 F and 3 days at 54 F
Does time in storage affect fruit flavor?
6.4 a 6.2 a 5.7 b
Average Hedonic Score
0 wk 3 wk 6 wk
Conclusions
One grower lot out of 3 was distinctly different
Commercial packline handling had an influence
on eating quality
Eating quality deteriorates with storage
These differences appear to be primarily related
to the final steps of fruit handling since we
detected differences due to placement on
packline
The alteration in eating quality is due to changes
in volatile characteristics rather than changes in
SSC or TA
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Florence Zakharov
Plant Sciences, UC Davis
fnegre@ucdavis.edu
Special thanks to
Mary Lu Arpaia for
sharing her slides on
Citrus study!