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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #174583
Title: QUALITY MEASUREMENT OF INTACT AND FRESH-CUT SLICES OF, `FUJI', `GRANNY SMITH', `PINK LADY' AND `GOLDRUSH' APPLES.

Author
item Saftner, Robert
item Abbott, Judith
item Bhagwat, Arvind
item Vinyard, Bryan

Submitted to: Journal of Food Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/1/2005
Publication Date: 6/13/2005
Citation: Saftner, R.A., Abbott, J.A., Bhagwat, A.A., Vinyard, B.T. 2005. Quality measurement of intact and fresh-cut slices of, `fuji', `granny smith', `pink lady' and `goldrush' apples. Journal of Food Science. 70:S317-324.

Interpretive Summary: With the heightened consumer interest in new high quality apple cultivars and the declining low rates of return for the more traditional processing cultivars, opportunities exist for cultivar-driven development of improved flavor and texture retention characteristics of fresh-cut apple products and the stability of those characteristics in the intact apples over prolonged periods of storage before processing. We compared the keeping quality of intact and fresh-cut apples from two traditional apple varieties, 'Fuji' and 'Granny Smith', to that of two new apple varieties, 'GoldRush' and 'Pink Lady'. We also evaluated consumer acceptance of apple slices processed from these four varieties after long-term storage of the intact fruit. 'GoldRush' was the only apple variety that could be stored and used throughout the year for fresh-cut processing, even though all four varieties stored well as fresh-cut slices. Consumers scored acceptability of flavor and texture of 'GoldRush' slices as high as or higher than those from the other cultivars. While the keeping quality of 'Pink Lady' apples was not as good as that of 'GoldRush', both are promising new cultivars for fresh-cut processing. This information will contribute to development of fresh-cut apple slices as a new value-added product for the apple industry and as a convenient fresh fruit product for consumers.

Technical Abstract: Development of fresh-cut apple products requires consideration of cultivars that store well both as intact fruit and as a fresh-cut. We compared the instrumental and sensory quality of two apple cultivars, 'Granny Smith' and 'Fuji', that are used for fresh-cutting with two new cultivars, 'Pink Lady' and 'GoldRush', which were considered to have quality characteristics suitable for fresh cutting. The firmness, titratable acidity (TA), soluble solids content (SSC), and aromatic volatile abundance were measured in intact fruit of the 4 cultivars during 12 mo storage in air at 0 degree centigrade and during 3 wk storage at 5 degree centigrade as fresh-cut slices. After 1 wk storage as fresh-cut slices, sensory evaluations for acceptability of flesh and peel appearance, flavor, texture, and overall eating quality were performed. During storage, 'GoldRush' apples maintained >80 N firmness, ~17% SSC, >0.5% TA, and had high aromatic volatile production, that is, maintained quality better than the other cultivars. The quality and shelf stability of 'GoldRush' slices was also as good as or better than slices from the other cultivars whereas 'Granny Smith' slices generally rated lower than the other cultivars. The acceptability of flavor, texture, and overall eating quality of 'GoldRush' slices were as good as those for 'Pink Lady' and 'Fuji'. The quality of 'GoldRush' apples can be maintained throughout the year in refrigerated air storage and still remain suitable for fresh-cut processing. The results indicate that 'GoldRush' and 'Pink Lady' are two promising new, high quality apple cultivars for fresh-cutting.