An Identification Procedure for Woolly Soft-flesh Peaches by Instrumental Assessment

Woolliness in peaches, a negative attribute of sensory texture characterized by the lack of crispness and juiciness, also known as mealiness in other fruits, has been identified fruit-by fruit by instrumental means. The use of a non-supervised clustering data analysis procedure, studying crispness and juiciness, enables four instrumental degrees of texture degradation to be defined, of which woolliness appears to be the last stage. This procedure also provides some knowledge on several experimental factors (ripeness stages, storage time and storage temperature) with regard to the onset of woolliness. It is confirmed through this study that, in cv. Maycrest peaches, woolliness starts to appear after 2 weeks of storage at 5°C. Fruits classified at harvest in `firstʹ and `secondʹ ripeness stages are more susceptible to woolliness than those in the third ripeness stage. This clustering procedure may also be effective for the study of other species, varieties and quality attributes of fruits.