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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Fort Pierce, Florida » U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory » Citrus and Other Subtropical Products Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #339928
Research Project: Quality, Shelf-life and Health Benefits for Fresh, Fresh-cut and Processed Products for Citrus and Other Tropical/Subtropical-grown Fruits and Vegetables

Location: Citrus and Other Subtropical Products Research

Title: Use of electronic tongue for differentiation of tomato taste by cultivar, harvest maturity, and chilling or heating exposure

Author
item XU, SAI - South China Agricultural University
item LI, JIAN - China Agricultural University
item Baldwin, Elizabeth - Liz
item Plotto, Anne
item Rosskopf, Erin
item Hong, Jason
item Bai, Jinhe

Submitted to: Florida State Horticultural Society Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/23/2017
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The objective of this research was to evaluate whether an electronic-tongue (etongue) could differentiate “taste” profiles of tomato fruit between different cultivars, harvest maturities, and postharvest chilling or heating exposure. The four cultivars included: two common commercial cultivars, ‘Tygress’ and ‘FL 47’, with round shaped and firm texture; ‘Tasti-Lee’, a hybrid with high lycopene due to the crimson gene for the premium tomato market; and ‘Cherokee Purple’, a heirloom cultivar that consistently ranked very high in taste tests. Commercially, tomatoes are often harvested at mature green (MG) stage for the fresh fruit and food service markets, and traditional vine-ripe harvested tomatoes are generally sold at farmer’s markets. To assess the effect of harvest maturities, from MG to full red, on fruit flavor once the fruit are fully ripened, fruit harvested at six maturities were compared. ‘Cherokee Purple’, harvested at breaker or riper, had high soluble solids content (SSC) and titratable acidity (TA), and was differentiated from the MG ‘Cherokee Purple’ and other cultivars, regardless of maturity, based on SSC and TA. Etongue tests not only confirmed the differences detected by SSC/TA data, but also differentiated between the other three cultivars, six harvest maturities, and chilling treatments in some cultivars. However, etongue-based data did not discriminate the heated fruits from control. E-tongue sensors ZZ, BA, BB, HA, and JB data correlated with TA and especially SSC. Etongue profiles were not only significantly related to SSC, but successfully predicted SSC.