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Научни трудове на Съюза на учените в България - Пловдив. Серия В. Техника и технологии. Том XVII, ISSN 1311 -9419 (Print); ISSN 2534-9384 (Online), 2019. Scientific Works of the Union of Scientists in Bulgaria - Plovdiv. Series C. Technics and Technologies. Vol. XVII., ISSN 1311 -9419 (Print); ISSN 2534-9384 (Online), 2019
ПРОУЧВАНЕ НА ПРЕДПОЧИТАНИЯТА КЪМ ОСОБЕНОСТИТЕ
НА ПЛОДОВЕТЕ ПРИ ПЪПЕША СРЕД БЪЛГАРСКИТЕ
ПОТРЕБИТЕЛИ Жана Иванова,НиколайВелАов, СтаниславаГр озева Инсти^т позеленчукови е^о^и „Мал ида",лрвзовскошосе №32,
4003,Плвввив, Бъвгарва
E SURVER OF OREFERENCES TO MELON FRUIT CHAIRECTERISTIRSAMONG BULGARIAN CONSUMERS Zhrn a IvatDva, Штивка Grozuva
Maritsa Vagalnbla Crs^i ResoarcUInstitute,a2Brazuvtku Shutta Str.,
4003 Pluvdiv, Bulgaria
Abstract
Melon is among the vegetable crops, which are distinguished by a great variability in terms of fruits characteristics. The varieties in different countries and regions of the world are distinguished by specific features that are associated with the preferences of consumers to the qualities and characteristics of the fruit. The specific requirements of consumers determine the directions of breeding programs. The aim of our survey was to establish the status in preferences of Bulgarian consumers to some traits of melon fruits. The survey was carried out during the International Agricultural Exhibition AGRA in Plovdiv, 2018 and 100 respondents completed a prepared survey form. Five main fruit characters were studied: shape, creasing of surface, depth of grooves, ground colour of skin at maturity and colour of the flesh. The results showed that the predominant part of the consumers prefer broad elliptic or circular fruit shape. Also poorly netted creasing of surface and shallow depth of grooves were selected. The orange colour of fruit dominated among the choice of consumers. Concerning flesh colour, it was observed that the greatest variation in requirements ranges from white to pink-orange. The results obtained in this survey provide important information for consumers demand in the new melon varieties and will be the basis for development of future breeding programs.
Kay words: Cucumis melo L., fruit, shape, surface, colour, flesh
Introduction
Melon (Cucumis melo L.) is one of the most important horticultural crops in Bulgaria. The annual production amounts to 26 489 t and total area planted is 2674 ha (Agrostatistica, 2017). The diversity of Bulgarian varieties is not very large. The hybrid cultivars Hybrid 1, Hybrid 15 and Pobeditel, which were developed on the basis of the local variety Vidinski koravci, are the most widely distributed in Bulgaria, (Velkov and Petkova, 2014). Other important varieties are Deserten 5 and Medena rosa (var. inodorus), which were developed more than 40 years ago. Nowadays the varieties Persiiski 5, Plovdivski banani, Vidinski koravci, Dabnishki ranni, Barbitiun, etc. well known in the past, are not grown (Mihov and Lozanov, 1982). Over the last few years, it has been observed that foreign varieties such as Galia and Ananas types are produced on limited areas.
Melon is polymorphic species that is diverse in plant, leaf, flower and fruit characteristics. Because of significant morphological variation exists in fruit characteristics and composition of C. melo genotypes, this species is thought to contain the most diverse varieties in the genus Cucumis (Stepansky et al., 1999, Pitrat, 2008). This advantage provides a wide choice of the consumers, but
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on the other hand, it makes breeding programs more complicated and difficult. Determining specific parameters in terms of fruit quality and characteristics in the development of new melon varieties is essential for their success and widespread dissemination. An understanding of the extent of genetic diversity and relationships among different local genotypes is beneficial both for the identification and effective conservation of genetic resources, and also for the success of breeding programs (Solmaz et al., 2016). The exact definition of parameters of the model of variety is a key point for the success of breeding programs.
The objectives of the present survey are to establish the most preferred fruit characteristics by the Bulgarian consumers and to determine relative importance of those characteristics.
Material and methods
A sample survey of consumer preferences using the quota method was conducted at the XXVIII International Agricultural Exhibition AGRA in Plovdiv in 2018. The event was traditional gathering of people from different parts of Bulgaria. One hundred respondents completed a prepared survey form. Questions dealt with visual features of melon that potentially affect consumer preferences. Pictures were used to identify five main fruit characters: shape, creasing of surface, depth of grooves, ground colour of skin at maturity and colour of the flesh (UPOV). The test allows to be indicated several preferences (classes) for the same characteristic (Table 1). For analysing the data frequency for each question were calculated and cluster analysis to analysing the group of similarities. Results were processed by statistical program SPSS 16 (SPSS Inc., USA).
Table 1. Fruit traits and number of classes included in the survey
Fruit traits Number of classes
1. Fruit shape ovate, medium elliptic, broad elliptic, circular, quadrangular, obovate, elongated
2. Creasing of surface smooth, finely wrinkled, deeply wrinkled, shallow wavy, a lot of warts, poorly netted, strong netted, linear.
3. Depth of grooves very shallow, shallow, medium, deep
4. Ground colour of skin at maturity white, light yellow, creamy, light green, green, dark green, orange, brown, gray
5. Colour of the flesh white, yellow, creamy, light green, green, light orange, orange, pink-orange
Results and discussion
The data obtained in this survey was aimed to specify the consumer's preferences for the different options/classes of melon fruit characteristics. In general, the quota method cannot be considered as the equivalent of random sampling and cannot always be generalized to the population as a whole, but it is useful tool for rapid investigations (Mercer et al., 2017). Received data helps to better define the concept of the model of variety. The survey results indicated that broad elliptic and circular fruit shape were preferred by consumers (31,58% and 32,24%) (Figure 1). The equal distribution to preferences of these two classes probably is due to similarity of the fruit shape. Fruit shape characteristics such as quadrangular, obovate and elongated were less important for consumers. The creasing of surface was clearly expressed by one class. Fruits with poorly netted surface (40,00%) were most preferred, followed by smooth (19,35%) and finely wrinkled (17,42%) surface. More than 48% of those taking the survey preferred the shallow grooves. Two other groups of people selected fruits with medium (29,46%) and very shallow (20,93%) grooves. Most participants preferred melon fruits with orange and light yellow coloured skin (40,12% and 21,51%, respectively) compared to these with dark green coloured skin (1,16%). Regarding colour of the flesh a clear preference was not established. Nevertheless almost one-fifth
of the consumers preferred the orange coloured fruit flesh (21,74%). The other preferences range from 8,15% for pink-orange to 13,04% for creamy coloured flesh. Similar results were obtained by Carbonell et al. (1990), who found that flesh colour of the pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata) had a greater variation in consumer choices compared to other characteristics such as fruit shape and skin colour. These results indicate that melon breeding programs can be directed to the development of new varieties with different coloured fruit flesh.
Figure 1. Preferred characteristics among survey respondents in percent
It was important to investigate variation in consumer preferences because of possibilities of multiple responses of the fruit traits. Understanding the relationships between the consumer preferences to fruit attributes will help to develop optimal melon breeding program.
The frequency of consumer choices to specific classes of fruit shape was average 1,52 (Table 2). This means that two or more classes of fruit shape are preferred by consumers. The choice of fruit shape varies from Minimum one class response to Maximum six classes in particular survey forms from a total of eight possible classes. The feature creasing of surface was selected average 1,70 times, range from 1 to 7 for each of the 8 classes. Depth of grooves was average preferred 1,79 times, range from 1 to 3 times in a total of 4 classes. Ground colour of skin was selected on average 1,43 times, range from 1 to 9 in particular survey forms, with potential 9 classes. The feature, colour of the flesh, was characterized by the lowest average value 1,13, which means that the most of the people chose one colour.
Table 2. Variation analysis in frequencies of consumer
preferences to five fruit traits
Fruit traits Mean ±SD CV% Min Max Total No of classes
Fruit shape 1.52 0.88 58.01 1.00 6.00 8.00
Creasing of surface 1.70 1.00 58.82 1.00 7.00 8.00
Depth of grooves 1.79 1.00 55.75 1.00 3.00 4.00
Ground colour of skin at maturity 1.43 1.28 89.60 1.00 9.00 9.00
Colour of the flesh 1.13 1.34 118.43 1.00 8.00 8.00
Dendrogram using Ward Method Rescaled Distance Cluster Combine
C A S E 0 5 10 15 20 25 Label Num +-----------+----------1-----------1-----------1-----------+
First sub-cluster:
Fruit shape - broad elliptic
Creasing of surface - poorly netted
Depth of grooves - shallow
Ground colour of skin at maturity - orange
Colour of the flesh - orange
Second sub-cluster:
Fruit shape - circular fruit shape
Creasing of surface - poorly netted
Depth of grooves - shallow
Ground colour of skin at maturity - orange
Colour of the flesh -creamy
Third sub-cluster:
Fruit shape - medium elliptic, quadrangular
Creasing of surface - poorly netted, smooth
Depth of grooves - shallow, medium
Ground colour of skin at maturity - orange, light yellow
Colour of the flesh - yellow, green
Fourth sub-cluster:
Fruit shape - broad elliptic, circular
Creasing of surface - poorly netted, strong netted
Depth of grooves - shallow, medium
Ground colour of skin at maturity - orange, brown
Colour of the flesh - orange
Fifth sub-cluster:
Fruit shape - broad elliptic, circular Creasing of surface - smooth Depth of grooves - very shallow
Ground colour of skin at maturity - light yellow, green Colour of the flesh - white, greenorange, brown
Sixth sub-cluster: Fruit shape - circular
Creasing of surface smooth - finely wrinkled Depth of grooves - very shallow, shallow Ground colour of skin at maturity - creamy, orange Colour of the flesh - orange, pink-orange
Seventh sub-cluster:
Fruit shape - broad elliptic, circular
Creasing of surface - poorly netted, strong netted
Depth of grooves - very shallow, shallow, medium
Ground colour of skin at maturity - white, light yellow, creamy
Colour of the flesh - white, yellow, creamy, light green
Figure 2. Cluster analysis based on the preferences of five fruit characteristics
Coefficients of variation of fruit shape, creasing of surface, depth of grooves and ground colour of skin at maturity were high (CV% from 55,75 to 89,60%). According to Lidanski (1988) values greater than 20% are regarded as high and values between 10% and 20% to be medium, whereas values less than 10% are considered to be low. The highest CV% (118,43%) was established in colour of the flesh. These results clearly showed that there are separate groups of
participants who prefer particular colour of flesh. This could be explained by the lowest value of the mean (1,13) and the highest coefficient of variation (118,43%).
In order to identify specific groups of users, a cluster analysis based on five studied characteristics was performed. Three main clusters and seven sub-clusters were obtained (Figure 2). The first and second sub-clusters consisted of consumers that chose mostly one class of each trait. The most preferable characteristics were broad elliptic or circular fruit shape, poorly netted surface, shallow grooves, orange coloured fruit skin and orange or creamy flesh colour. Consumers grouped in the third and fourth sub-clusters preferred mostly two classes of each trait. They preferred mainly medium or broad elliptic fruit shape, poorly netted surface, shallow and medium depth of grooves, orange colour of skin and yellow or orange colour of flesh. Consumers that chose mostly three classes of each trait presented the fifth and sixth sub-clusters. They mainly selected circular fruit shape, smooth surface, very shallow depth of grooves, but their choice vary according to colour of skin and flesh. The seventh sub-cluster consisted of five customers which chose three or more classes of each trait. It could be summarized that there are three main groups of consumers. The first one is consisted from first to fourth sub-cluster (59 persons) which prefers particular classes of fruit traits. The second main group is composed of 36 persons whose choice is more variable. The third group of 5 persons is characterized with the largest scale of preferences.
The most preferable fruit traits were broad elliptic or circular fruit shape, poorly netted surface, shallow grooves, orange fruit skin and orange flesh colour. These results could be priority in melon breeding programs and development of new cultivars.
Conclusion
The survey clearly pointed the most preferable fruit characteristics among Bulgarian consumers, which are with great importance in melon breeding programs. The data indicates that the most preferable melon fruits were with broad elliptic or circular fruit shape and poorly netted surface. Orange colour of fruits and shallow depth of grooves are often preferred by customers. A wide amount of variability was observed in terms of flesh colour from white to orange-pink.
References
Agrostatistics, Production of vegetables in Bulgaria - harvest 2017. Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.
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Corresponding author: Zhana Ivanova, e-mail: jana-ivanova@abv.bg
