SENSORY CHARACTERISTICS AND CONSUMER ACCEPTABILITY OF PINK LADY AND OTHER LATE-SEASON APPLE CULTIVARS

'Pink Lady' is a late maturing 'Lady Williams' x 'Golden Delicious' ap ple (Malus domestica Borkh.) cultivar developed in Western Australia a nd imported into New Zealand by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisher ies in 1986. We used trained and consumer panellists, and chemical and physical analyses, to compare the sensory quality of 'Pink Lady' with that of four standard late-harvest apple cultivars. If acceptable, th e new apple could usefully extend the harvest season of New Zealand ap ples. Trained taste panellists gave 'Pink Lady' apples similar ratings to 'Braeburn' and 'Fuji' apples for texture, sweet-sour balance and f lavour, but lower ratings for juiciness. 'Pink Lady' was a firm apple as measured by penetrometer, and Instron texture measurements indicate d it was a hard, crisp apple. 'Pink Lady','Braeburn', and 'Fuji' apple s were rated higher for acceptability than 'Granny Smith' and 'Red Dou gherty' by the consumer panel, who said they would buy these cultivars and pay more for them. Consumers also preferred the appearance of 'Pi nk Lady' apples. Changes in sensory quality during storage (as measure d by sweetness, flavour, crispness, and juiciness) were similar for 'P ink Lady' and the four late-maturing commercial cultivars tested. 'Pin k Lady' had a musty off-flavour initially that disappeared during stor age, whereas other cultivars developed metallic, ''old'', and alcoholi c flavours. 'Pink Lady' apples browned quite slowly when sliced. Compo sitional analysis showed 'Pink Lady' was relatively high in dry matter , soluble solids, and titratable acids.