Quality characteristics of five disease-resistant apple cultivars

The integration of disease-resistant cultivars (DRCs) into commercial apple production offers a realistic approach for reducing pesticide use in fruit production. Appearance and flavor are key attributes determining whether consumers will accept new cultivars. Five DRCs, 'NY74828-12', 'NY75414-1', 'NY65707-19', 'Liberty', and 'McShay', were tested at harvest over two seasons (1994, 1995). In 1994, chemical and physical characteristics of five cultivars were significantly (P ≤ 0.05) different except glucose, total sugar content, and Hunter L and b values. Sensory scores were significantly different in firmness, sweetness and tartness. Cultivar '707' was more preferred in appearance but no significant (P ≤ 0.05) difference was found in flavor and overall acceptance. In 1995, cultivar '414' had lower titratable acidity, Hunter L, a, b values, hue angle and chroma. Cultivar '707' had significantly higher peak force both peeled and unpeeled. Sensory scores were significantly different in firmness. Cultivar '414' had higher preference scores in both flavor and overall acceptance while appearance was equally preferred for all five cultivars. Correlations indicated that apple flavor was highly correlated with percent soluble solids content in 1994 (r = 0.882), and total sugar content in 1995 (r = 0.904). Flavor was also highly correlated with overall acceptance in both 1994 (r = 0.895) and 1995 (r = 0.991).