which of the three clusters the consumers belonged to (Figure 10.5, Fig-
ure 10.6). These differences were of the same magnitude, as the changes
were caused by the storage period. An interpretation of the Hedonic rel-
evance of the postharvest changes therefore is only possible against the
background of the consumer segment.
Almost the same pattern of consumer evaluation was found in the
case of flavor liking (Figure 10.6). Stored fruits were scored significantly
higher than fresh fruits by those who felt fresh fruits were too firm.The
similarity between the flavor liking and overall impression graphs sug-
gests a combined pattern: Softer fruits exhibit taste qualities that are ac-
cepted in combination with the texture properties themselves. Those
consumers who are disappointed by soft fruits are also disappointed by
their taste and those consumers liking softer fruits find their taste more
acceptable. A predictive model of the consumer liking of tomatoes
should contain data for titratable acids, puncture force, reducing sugars
and juiciness.
Consumer Clusters 193FIGURE 10.5The overall impression during storage, depending on the consumers’ ini-
tial firmness perception of the fresh fruits. Three groups were distinguished: those that
did not like firm fruits, those that did not like soft fruits, and those perceiving fruits as
ideal.