Analysis of association of sensory and laboratory assessments for quality and consumer acceptability of steamed East Africa highland bananas

Abstract

BACKGROUNDThe relevance of several characteristics for the acceptability of steamed East Africa bananas (matooke) was assessed using consumer‐preferred characteristics, the overall liking scores, check‐all‐that‐apply (CATA), and the Just About Right (JAR) scale. The study was conducted in rural and urban locations in three banana growing regions of Uganda. Two landraces and two hybrids were processed into matooke. Twelve trained panellists evaluated color, taste and texture sensory characteristicsRESULTSConsumers scored matooke from landraces as the most liked. The CATA test showed that the most important characteristics were: smooth mouth feel, soft to the touch, not sticky, moldable, deep yellow color, attractive, good matooke taste, and smell.PCA analysis confirmed that most of the preferred sensory characteristics were associated with the local genotypes whilst the less preferred characteristics were associated with hybrids. Correlation analysis revealed strong positive correlations between the consumer assessed characteristics; Hardness by touch, softness to touch and yellowness; and quantitative laboratory characteristics (moldable, hardness by touch, softness and yellowness) of the steamed matooke. Color assessed by consumers was strongly correlated with the laboratory‐assessed color indicators.CONCLUSIONThe strong associations observed between laboratory‐assessed and consumer‐based characteristics (moldable by touch, and yellowness) suggest the possibility of predicting consumer characteristics using quantitative laboratory sensory assessments. Matooke taste as assessed by consumer panel (CP) is strongly associated with smooth texture and deep yellow color, which were the characteristics associated with landraces in the laboratory sensory assessment.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Using Mutation Breeding to Improve the Eating Characteristics of the Fusarium Wilt-Resistant Banana Variety, ‘Goldfinger’ (AAAB)

“…It was originally postulated that correlations between TSS, TA, or DM and the tastetesting feedback could be used to assist with the retrospective selection of promising variants that were unable to be taste-tested. For example, Bugaud et al [61] identified some measurable chemical predictors of taste and texture in dessert bananas, while Akankwasa et al [62] identified some associations between consumer assessments (namely colour and texture) and quantitative instrumental measurements for steamed East African highland bananas. Although statistically significant relationships were identified in the present study, these relationships were weaker than those identified by Bugaud et al [61] and may not be of practical importance.…”