This project started on Nov. 1st, 2019. So, this is the fourth quarterly report (8/1/20-11/15/20). There are two objectives in this project. The progress of each objective is listed here:
Objective 1. Evaluation of blended juice using released HLB-tolerant sweet orange/mandarin cultivars via analyses of sensory and consumer acceptance.
Sensory for Sugar Belle blended with Hamlin were completed in the second quarter. At the end of April, we have harvested Valencia and have processed Valencia. Sensory and consumer study of Valencia mixing with Sugar Belle has been completed in this quarter. The completed sensory and consumer study included 1) a commercial product 2) 90% Valencia blended with 10% Sugar Belle 3) 50% Valencia blended with 50% Sugar Belle 4) 100% Valencia 5) 100% Sugar Belle. The best overall liking and flavor liking is 50% Valencia blended with 50% Sugar Belle then flowed by 100% Valencia. The sensory attributes included: sweetness, sourness, bitterness, overall flavor, orange flavor, overall liking and flavor liking etc. The consumer attitude toward mandarin blended orange juice was included in the surveyIn addition, they provided the price they would like to pay for each sample, which could provide more information on consumer liking regard each sample.
Objective 2. Identify more tolerant cultivars resembling the quality of Valencia for the juice market, and identify a chemistry definition of consumer accepted orange flavor
We collected about 20 mandarin hybrids, pure mandarins and sweet orange in the first quarter and these cultivars have been identified with the great field performance. The trained sensory panel study started in the first quarter but stopped for the second quarter due to COVID-19. In the third quarter, we continued trained panel study for differentiating citrus flavor attributes such as sweet, citrusy, fruity, and fl-ora etc. In the fourth quarter, we have completed all the sensory studies for 20 cultivars collected. In the fourth quarter, we have also completed all the Gas-Chromatography analysis for all the aromas of 20 samples. We are still in the process of completing all non-volatile (e.g. taste compounds) analysis and hope can be done in the next quarter.
We expect to correlate trained sensory data with analytical data (aroma and taste) at the end. In this way, a chemical definition of mandarin and orange flavor can be provided.