An identification procedure for woolly soft-flesh peaches by instrumental assessment

Woolliness in peaches, a negative attribute of sensory texture characterize d by the lack of crispness and juiciness, also known as mealiness in other fruits, has been identified fruit-by fruit by instrumental means. The use o f a non-supervised clustering data analysis procedure, studying crispness a nd juiciness, enables four instrumental degrees of texture degradation to b e defined, of which woolliness appears to be the last stage. This procedure also provides some knowledge on several experimental factors (ripeness sta ges, storage time and storage temperature) with regard to the onset of wool liness. It is confirmed through this study that, in cv. Maycrest peaches, w oolliness starts to appear after 2 weeks of storage at 5 degrees C. Fruits classified at harvest in 'first' and 'second' ripeness stages are mo re susceptible to woolliness than those in the third ripeness stage. This c lustering procedure may also be effective for the study of other species, v arieties and quality attributes of fruits. (C) 2000 Silsoe Research Institu te.