TY - JOUR T1 - Flavor Preferences of Supermarket Customers for `Thompson Seedless' Grapes JF - American Journal of Enology and Viticulture JO - Am J Enol Vitic. SP - 31 LP - 40 DO - 10.5344/ajev.1973.24.1.31 VL - 24 IS - 1 AU - K. E. Nelson AU - H. G. Schutz AU - M. Ahmedullah AU - J. Mcpherson Y1 - 1973/01/01 UR - http://www.ajevonline.org/content/24/1/31.abstract N2 - 'Thompson Seedless' table grapes were tasted as single-berry samples by 1374 customers in six supermarkets in the Sacramento, California, area. Each participant tasted six samples, each of a different Brix/acid ratio from 13.1:1 to 27.3:1. There were two samples at each of three levels of soluble solids: 14, 16, and 18° Brix (∓ 0.5°B). Used was a 9-point hedonic scale with flavor ratings from "like extremely" to "dislike extremely." The correlation between Brix/acid ratio and flavor preference was highly significant. Preference ratings at each degree Brix differed widely, being consistently higher for the sample with the lower acid content. Acid content varied so widely that degree Brix alone was a poor index with which to predict palatability.The number of tasters that rated samples "like very much" and "like extremely" increased rapidly for samples with ratios above 20:1. The number that rated samples "dislike very much" and "dislike extremely" increased rapidly for samples with ratios below 18:1.Blacks and Mexican-Americans as one group differed significantly in flavor preference from Caucasians and Orientals as the other group. This difference is probably because Blacks generally used the "like extremely" rating most freely, especially for the high-ratio samples, and MexicanAmericans used the "dislike extremely" rating most freely, especially for the low-ratio samples. There was no significant difference between the two ethnic divisions within each group.Men differed significantly from women in flavor preference, largely because women used the "dislike very much" and "dislike extremely" ratings more than did men.The number of "like extremely" or "dislike extremely" ratings was affected markedly by the position of the highest-and lowest-ratio samples in the tasting sequence. The number of ratings "like extremely" and "dislike extremely" increased consistently as the sample so rated was shifted from first to sixth position in the tasting sequence.Discussed is the desirability and feasibility of conducting a consumer flavor study of table grapes in supermarkets. The index of preference for samples of different levels of maturity could be the relative amounts of fruit purchased. Suggested are methods of handling the grape samples and maturity levels to use. ER -