Sensory and compositional attributes of melting- and non-melting-flesh peaches for the fresh market

A study was conducted to determine differences in sensory and compositional characteristics of melting-flesh (MF) and non-melting flesh (NMF) fresh ma rket peach genotypes. Sensory results showed that the NMF fruit ('Oro A' an d FL 86-28C) were 'harder', less 'juicy' and more 'rubbery' than their MF ( FL 90-20 and 'TropicBeauty') counterparts. A principal component analysis o f the sensory data showed a clear distinction between the textural aspects of MF and NMF fruit, but not between their flavour aspects. Likewise, chemi cal analysis showed that while differences in pH, titratable acidity, and s oluble solids were detected among the four genotypes, no consistent groupin g could be made based on the MF/NMF nature of the fruit. (C) 1999 Society o f Chemical Industry.