in that no information is lost by not averaging over scores, but also
in that natural segmentation of consumers over the map is illustrated
(McEwan, 1988/89).
Southern Hemisphere Apples
In a study by Dalliant-Spinnler et al. (1996), the technique was ap-
plied to the consumers’ perception of apple varieties from the Southern
hemisphere. First a trained sensory panel derived a comprehensive de-
scriptive sensory profile of the apples. The panel elicited a total of 62
descriptors, which were divided into the following categories: external
appearance, external odor, internal odor, first bite (take one bite from
the center of the hemisphere with front teeth), texture during chewing,
flavor during chewing and afterswallow (15 s after swallowing). In Fig-
ure 9.1 the varieties Granny Smith, Golden Delicious and Braeburn are
separated from Top Red, Fuji, Royal Gala and G/S 330 along the first
principal component (PC), while Celeste and Compact Golden Delicious
are well separated from Braeburn and Aurora along the second PC. In
Figure 9.2 which represents the plot of the attributes, descriptors such
as grassy, green apple and damp twigs occupied the same space. These
162 CONSUMER PREFERENCE
FIGURE 9.1PCA: Product map for the first two principal components of apples (62
descriptors).