Preference and acceptance tests were performed to determine the relationship between quality parameters and attributes of peach purées from cultivars Granada, Jade, Emeralda, Maciel, Eldorado, Jubileu, Br-6 and Magno. Peaches of the crop 2003/2004 were picked from a commercial orchard in Pelotas/RS. The physical and chemical properties were determined with four replications of twenty fruit each. The peach purées were manufactured by continuous blanching. Preference and acceptance tests were performed in peach purées with 50 consumers and the consumer's response were recorded using self-adjusting and nine-point hedonic scales respectively. In addition, the descriptive test was with nine trained judges. The results were analyzed by ANOVA, and significant differences were determined using Tukey's test. The physical and chemical characteristics of the eight cultivars of peach varied widely between themselves. In general, the total phenols increased with the crop cycle. The cvs. Eldorado, BR-6, Jubileu and Magno were superiors to SS/TA ratio (e" 15.1) that is a good indicator of high-quality fruit. Peach purées of Jubileu and Eldorado were the preferred of consumers. The main reason of this choice was the balance between sweet and acid that was significantly related to SS/TA. The peach cultivars with low total phenols contents, when the fruits were manufactured, had as results a yellow coloration desirable for peach purée.
Quality parameters and attributes; consumer preference, and characteristic color of peach pureé
