Determination of taste in strawberries through the use of non-destructive sensors.

Continuous assurance of product quality is important to achieve sustainable added value within a specific market segment. Not only how the product looks like, but also how consumers appreciate the taste. In case of disappointing taste, the repeat purchase will not occur, while a consistently good taste will stimulate the choice for a healthy product. Compared to processed food, there is a lot of unwanted variation in taste in fresh fruits and vegetables. In the fresh produce supply chain there is an increasing need for a method to measure the pleasantness of taste objectively, non-invasively and quickly. Previous research determined liking of the taste of strawberry fruit by combining the input of analytical methods of various quality traits (measured destructively) such as total soluble solids (°Brix) and acidity, with sensory information obtained from consumer and sensory panels. In order to deal with the inherent variation existing in consumer data, the present study incorporated the use of two artificial strawberry flavoured sirop-based juices -referred here to as reference juices. These reference juices, each one with a different sugar level content, were given to the participants with the purpose of calibrating panellists during the taste sessions. Preliminary results show that the liking of the reference juices was correlated with the liking of the strawberry samples. Additionally, this research takes a step forward by adding the use of non-destructive technologies, like near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to predict strawberry taste in a non-invasive manner. The development of a non-invasive flavour model would provide a quick, reliable and real time prediction of how pleasant the taste of an actual strawberry is – on a fruit-level basis – supporting better decision-making processes for all the different stakeholders in the supply chain.