INTERRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SENSORY AND MECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CANNED PEACHES

The 37 sensory characteristics of commercially canned peaches were measured using Quantitative Descriptive Analysis. Some mechanical parameters of the fruit were also measured by using both empirical and fundamental instrumental tests. Principal Component Analysis was employed to study the intra- and interrelationships of the sensory and the mechanical characteristics of the canned peaches. The results indicated that most of the characteristics were grouped in four main clusters. These clusters defined two perceptual axes corresponding to the first two principal components which described 76% of the variation. The first component described the viscoelasticity and the second the pleasantness of the sensory characteristics. It was also shown that the mechanical parameters of the fruits were good predictors of the whole range of their textural characteristics.