Understanding consumer acceptance of early harvested 'Hayward' kiwifruit

During two seasons, 'in-store' consumer acceptance tests were performed to determine the relationship between ripe soluble solids concentration (RSSC) and/or ripe titratable acidity (RTA) on 'Hayward' kiwifruit consumer accep tance. For this, 252 consumers were presented kiwifruit slice samples with RSSC of 11.0, 12.0, 13.0, and 14.0% with a RTA ranging from 0.8 to 1.2%. Ki wifruit with RSSC that ranged from 11.6 to > 13.5% were always liked by con sumers but with different degrees of liking. A 12.5% RSSC is proposed as a minimum quality index for early-marketed kiwifruit. RTA played a significan t role in consumer acceptance only on kiwifruit that had RSSC < 11.6% with RTA greater than or equal to 1.17% ('sour'). This kiwifruit quality survey indicated that some vineyards had kiwifruit with RSSC higher than 12.5% bef ore they met the recommended minimum maturity standard of 6.5%, HSSC. Kiwif ruit picked with SSC < 6.2% developed flesh breakdown. This work demonstrat ed that some California vineyards could produce high taste quality (12.5% R SSC) kiwifruit before they reach 6.5% SSC measured when kiwifruit are hangi ng on the vines. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.