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Title: ALTERNATIVE METHODS FOR CONSUMER TESTING AND DATA ANALYSIS USED TO IDENTIFY CRITICAL FLAVOR PROPERTIES OF MANGO (MANGIFERA INDICA L.)

Author
item MALUNDO, THERESE - US DISTILLED PRODUCTS
item SHEWFELT, ROBERT - UNIV OF GEORGIA
item WARE, GLEN - UNIV OF GEORGIA
item Baldwin, Elizabeth - Liz

Submitted to: Journal of Sensory Studies
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/19/2000
Publication Date: 5/23/2001
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Mango fruit are increasingly popular in the U.S. and Europe. This study was designed to identify important flavor aspects of this nutritious fruit that affect consumer purchases. Consumers were asked to taste mango samples and to respond whether or not, based on the flavor, they would purchase the fruit. This was compared statistically to measurements of various flavor compounds in the fruit samples (sugars, acids and aroma components) to come up with a probability of purchase index of acceptability. Such an index would be used to predict, based on chemical levels of important flavor compounds, whether or not consumers would buy a particular mango.

Technical Abstract: Alternative methods for measuring response and analyzing data in consumer research were explored in this study which attempted to identify critical flavor properties of mango. Twelve mango samples were evaluated according to 13 flavor descriptors by a trained panel using 150-mm unstructured lines. Consumers (n=120), intercepted in supermarkets, each tasted 3 samples and responded `yes' or `no' to an intent-to-purchase question. Consumer response, coded by respectively assigning 0 or 1 to each negative or positive answer, was expressed as a probability of purchase and related to descriptive attributes using logistic regression. Critical descriptors were peachy, grassy, and green banana (a=0.10). The function generated had an index of discrimination of 0.70.