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' apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) cultivar developed in Western Australia and imported into New Zealand by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries 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, the new apple could usefully extend the harvest season of New Zealand apples. Trained taste panellists gave 'Pink Lady' apples similar ratings to 'Braeburn' and 'Fuji' apples for texture, sweet-sour balance and flavour, but lower ratings for juiciness. 'Pink Lady' was a firm apple as measured by penetrometer, and Instron texture measurements indicated it was a hard, crisp apple. 'Pink Lady','Braeburn', and 'Fuji' apples were rated higher for acceptability than 'Granny Smith' and 'Red Dougherty' by the consumer panel, who said they would buy these cultivars and pay more for them. Consumers also preferred the appearance of 'Pink Lady' apples. Changes in sensory quality during storage (as measured by sweetness, flavour, crispness, and juiciness) were similar for 'Pink Lady' and the four late-maturing commercial cultivars tested. 'Pink Lady' had a musty off-flavour initially that disappeared during storage, whereas other cultivars developed metallic, "old", and alcoholic flavours. 'Pink Lady' apples browned quite slowly when sliced. Compositional analysis showed 'Pink Lady' was relatively high in dry matter, soluble solids, and titratable acids.