Apple Compositional and Peel Color Differences Resulting from Canopy Microclimate Affect Consumer Preference for Eating Quality and Appearance

Abstract

We hypothesized that the microclimate at different positions in the tree canopy may affect the appearance, eating quality, and consumer preference for apple fruit. Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate the internal and external quality of inner and outer canopy apples in relation to consumer preference for the eating quality and appearance of these fruit. We determined peel color, flesh firmness, percentage starch breakdown, soluble solids concentration (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), and dry matter concentration (DMC) for inner and outer canopy ‘Starking’, ‘Golden Delicious’, and ‘Granny Smith’ from the Ceres region in South Africa in the 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons. We also determined reducing sugars, total phenolics, and total antioxidant capacity in the 2009–10 season. A trained panel assessed the sensory characteristics of fruit while consumers were asked to indicate their liking for the eating quality and appearance of fruit. Outer canopy fruit of all three cultivars had higher antioxidant capacity, TSS, DMC, lower TA, and were generally sweeter than inner canopy fruit. Consumers could discern eating quality differences and generally preferred the eating quality of outer canopy fruit. The appearance of outer canopy fruit was not preferred in the “green” cultivars, probably as a result of the unfamiliarity of consumers with such fruit. Consumers did, however, prefer the redder outer canopy to the less red inner canopy ‘Starking’ fruit. The redness of ‘Starking’ fruit in this study can therefore be seen as a true signal of eating quality, i.e., the redder the fruit, the better the eating quality, and this would probably apply to other fully red and bicolored apple cultivars. Hence, the classification of red cultivars into different quality classes based on the extent of red color development seems justified from an eating quality perspective. In contrast, blushed outer canopy ‘Granny Smith’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ are culled for aesthetic reasons. It might be possible to develop a niche local market for these blushed fruit based on their better eating quality. Our data were generated in older orchards with trees planted at low density and with large canopies. Planer, two-dimensional canopies are likely to reduce the differences between inner and outer canopy fruit. Differences in macroclimate or in fruit maturity between seasons may also have an overbearing effect on fruit quality parameters compared with canopy microclimatic conditions.