Evaluation of California‐Grown Blood and Cara Cara Oranges Through Consumer Testing, Descriptive Analysis, and Targeted Chemical Profiling

Abstract

The acceptability of Moro, Tarocco, Cara Cara, Shahani, Bream Tarocco, Boukhobza, and Sanguinelli oranges from both commercial and research orchards was tested with adult (n = 152) and child (n = 72) consumers. Qualitative focus groups were also conducted to understand consumer familiarity and thoughts about the fruit. Sensory descriptive and chemical analyses were carried out to identify drivers of liking. Overall, consumers preferred the lighter colored varieties consisting of Tarocco, Cara Cara, and Boukhobza. One cluster of adults (n = 80) showed preferences towards sweet and fruity flavors and away from sourness and citric acid. The second adult cluster (n = 72) was tolerant of the sour fruit but did not like fruit high in bitterness and flavonoid content. The largest child cluster (n = 42) showed preferences for samples higher in orange and tropical flavors (Cara Cara, Tarocco, and Boukhobza varieties). The appearance of the Cara Cara was strongly liked by the consumer population in both quantitative and qualitative settings. Hunter scale a color values strongly correlated to the higher berry/dried fruit flavors, and concentrations of naringenin. Focus group participants noted that they were relatively unfamiliar with blood oranges. Growers and producers may want to invest in the lighter colored varieties, such as Cara Cara, Tarocco, Boukhobza and Shahani, as these were liked by a majority of consumers and were low in less desirable sensory characteristics, such as bitterness and sourness. Practical Application Through consumer tests, sensory evaluation, and chemical analyses, this research uncovered which sensory properties may drive consumer acceptance of blood and Cara Cara oranges, and informed potential production and marketing strategies for increasing their consumption. This information should benefit the citrus industry as a whole and may enhance the use of specialty oranges by the food, beverage, and food service industries.

Descriptive aroma profiles of fresh sweet basil cultivars (Ocimum spp.): Relationship to volatile chemical composition

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Purchasing Drivers of Fresh Citrus Fruits in Urban Italy: Is It All about Taste?

“…In particular, only a few studies in the food consumption literature have focused attention on consumer preferences for citrus fruits. Furthermore, the bulk of this literature has been mainly undertaken in the USA, e.g., [24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. Scant attention has been addressed toward consumption patterns in other countries relevant for citrus fruit production and consumption-such as Italy, the country on which the current study specifically focuses.…”

Consumer preferences for black coffee are spread over a wide range of brew strengths and extraction yields

“…With the preference clustering approach, liking can be more successfully maximized for specific consumer bases by disregarding the skewed optimum that results from divergent opinions in the consumer sample. These methods and their practical application have been demonstrated in consumer acceptability studies on a variety of food products (Frost et al., 2019; Guinard, Uotani, & Schlich, 2001; Santa Cruz, Garitta, & Hough, 2003; Serrano‐Megías & López‐Nicolás, 2006; Simons et al., 2019; Thompson, Drake, Lopetcharat, & Yates, 2006). Any updated versions of the Coffee Brewing Control Chart should therefore consider this variability in coffee preferences before defining optimum or “ideal” extraction profiles.…”