Sustainable Fruit Consumption: The Influence of Color, Shape and Damage on Consumer Sensory Perception and Liking of Different Apples

Anne Normann, Magnus Röding and Karin Wendin
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Anne Normann: RISE—The Swedish Research Institute—Bioscience and Materials, Agrifood and Bioscience, SE-402 29 Göteborg, Sweden
Magnus Röding: RISE—The Swedish Research Institute—Bioscience and Materials, Agrifood and Bioscience, SE-402 29 Göteborg, Sweden
Karin Wendin: Food and Meal Science, Faculty of Natural Science, Kristianstad University, SE-291 88 Kristianstad, Sweden

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 17, 1-9

Abstract: Sustainable food production and consumption are currently key issues. About one third of food produced for human consumption is wasted. In developed countries, consumers are responsible for the largest amount of food waste throughout the supply chain. The unwillingness to purchase and consume suboptimal food products is an important cause of food waste, however, the reasons behind this are still insufficiently studied. Our research addresses the question of how combinations of color, shape and damage of apples influence consumer liking and perceived sensory attributes. In a laboratory study based on factorial design of visual appearance (color, shape and damage varied from optimal to suboptimal) a total of 130 consumers evaluated sensory perception of flavor and texture attributes in apple samples. Liking was also evaluated. The results showed a significant difference in liking between an optimal apple and all apple categories with at least two out of three suboptimal properties. Further, it was a clear trend that the optimal apple was perceived as sweeter, crispier, less bitter, and less earthy than all the other apples by the participating consumers, however, the results were not statistically significant. A suboptimal appearance, therefore, had a negative effect on both perception and liking.

Keywords: consumer; apples; appearance; perception; suboptimality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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