A Comparative Study of ‘Fallglo’ and Its Seedless Mutation ‘US Early Pride’ Tangerines by Sensory Evaluation

Abstract

Fallglo’ is an early-maturing tangerine hybrid commercially grown in Florida. It has high eating quality but contains many seeds, which is undesirable for consumers. ‘US Early Pride’, an irradiation-induced mutant of ‘Fallglo’, combines many quality attributes of ‘Fallglo’, but has very few seeds. ‘Fallglo’ and ‘US Early Pride’ from the same grove were compared in a consumer taste panel biweekly during the 2011–2012 harvest season (October to December). Fruit were washed, sanitized, and peeled, and one-half of each fruit (mixed segments) were presented to 55–60 untrained panelists over four sessions. The other half of each fruit was juiced and analyzed for soluble solids content (SSC) and titratable acidity (TA). Panelists were asked to taste the two samples and indicate which one they preferred and then to explain their choice in a follow-up questionnaire. Results show that there was no preference overall between ‘Fallglo’ and ‘US Early Pride’ for any of the harvests. However, panelists who preferred ‘US Early Pride’ stated it was mostly because it had less seeds and it was juicier, while panelists who preferred ‘Fallglo’ indicated that it was because it was sweeter and had more tangerine flavor. Differences between cultivars for SSC and TA were only significant on the first harvest (26 Oct.), with ‘Fallglo’ having greater SSC and TA than ‘US Early Pride’. Differences in SSC/TA were seen on the second harvest (3 Nov.), with ‘Fallglo’ having greater SSC/TA than ‘US Early Pride’, and the BrimA index was greater for ‘Fallglo’ than ‘US Early Pride’ on the first, second and last harvests. Therefore, the BrimA index might be a better indicator for sweetness attribute than SSC/TA.