Training of Two Groups of Tasters for the Creation of Sensory Profiles of Highbush Blueberry Cultivars Grown in Northern Italy    Mellano M.G. 1,2, Carli C.1, Folini L.1,3, Draicchio P.1,3, Beccaro G.L. 2 1 O.N.A.Frut. Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Frutta – Cuneo – Italy 2 Dipartimento di Colture Arboree – Università degli Studi di Torino – Italy 3 Fondazione Fojanini di Studi Superiori – Sondrio – Italy Fondazione Fojanini INTRODUCTION The main blueberry production areas in Italy are Piemonte, Trentino Alto Adige and Lombardia. In Lombardia, the plantations are located in Valtellina, an alpine valley orientated east-west in correspondence to the upper course of the Adda river with a very sunny side, suitable for intensive orcharding. The plantations of highbush blueberry started ten years ago on acidic soils and now 20-25ha are cultivated. The main cultivated varieties are Duke, planted for earliness, and Brigitta Blue for the good storage ability. In Piemonte region the tradition of cultivating blueberries is longer (20 years) and nearly 120ha are planted. The main cultivated varieties are Duke, Berkeley, Blueray, Bluecrop and Coville. The produce is distributed to retailers and supermarkets by grower co-operatives and wholesalers mostly on the national markets of Milano, Bologna, Firenze and Roma (Beccaro et al., 2001). O.N.A.Frut. main activity is the fruit sensory evaluation. The organization uses a panel of trained tasters to provide technical information in order to complete the description and characterization of the produce. The evaluations are useful to improve the value of the berries and to inform the consumers on fruit quality at harvest and post-harvest. Cultivar sensory profiles Lombardia: Brigitta Blue is very firm, very sweet, not very astringent and herbaceous and with medium intensity of acid taste and blueberry aroma. Ozarkblue is the firmest one, with medium sweetness similar to that of the other varieties, with medium intensity of acidic taste and astringent aroma, not very herbaceous or very aromatic. Piemonte: Berkeley is described as of medium firmness, sweet, medium intensity of herbaceous aroma, not very acid or astringent and very aromatic. Blueray is not very firm, of medium acidity and sweetness, similar to other cultivar, astringent with intense herbaceous and insufficient blueberry aroma. Bluecrop is medium firm, with not very sweet but very acid taste, very astringent and herbaceous and blueberry aroma of medium intensity. Coville has characteristics of medium intensity, only the blueberry aroma is intense. Elizabeth berries is medium firm, with very sweet but not very acidic taste, not very astringent, with intense aroma of blueberry and herbaceous aroma of medium intensity. Lateblue is very firm, not very sweet with medium intensity of acidic taste, herbaceous and blueberry aroma.   1 MATERIALS AND METHODS Training methods For 2 years the first panel tasters (12 panellists) were trained using many specific tests about: development of a sensory descriptors list in order to evaluate different cultivars specific training with standard solutions, reference food and blueberries pre-testing samples in order to correctly evaluate sweetness, acidity, smell, aroma and other descriptors development of a reference sensory sheet application of the method also in the second panel (10 panellists) In order to define an overall quality sensorial level of a single sample, the panellists indicate on the scale their personal preference. Blueberry samples Cultivar were collected in 2 experimental fields in Piemonte (P): Berkeley, Blueray, Bluecrop, Coville, Lateblue, Elizabeth and Lombardia (L): Brigitta Blue, Ozarkblue. Samples: 20 g of berries, at about 18°C, one day after harvest. In single sensory cabin, the berries were submitted to the panellist in a little glass, with an anonimous code, with a dish for visual evaluation. Figure 1. Sensory profiles of blueberries cultivars (* = p ≤ 0.05 and ** = P ≤ 0.01) Hedonistic overall quality The panellists also indicate their personal preferences of the blueberry cultivars. Sensory evaluation in terms of overall quality showed that Elizabeth (P) and Brigitta Blue (L) were more appreciated than Blueray (P), Bluecrop (P), Ozarkblue (L) and Lateblue (P). The other cv were averagely appreciated. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Analysis of the descriptors Sensory evaluation of different highbush blueberry cultivarsa Sensory rating b Sample Firmness Sweetness Acidity Astringent Herbaceous Blueberry aroma (intensity) Berkeley(P) 1.06AB 6.31AB 3.31B 0.44B 0.69AB 6.56a Blueray (P) 0.69B 5.25ABC 5.81AB 1.25AB 1.69A 4.56b Bluecrop (P) 1.00AB 4.25C 6.31A 2.44A 5.38ab Brigitta Blue(L) 1.97A 6.77A 3.67AB 0.33B 0.27B 5.77ab Coville (P) 6.25AB 4.88AB 0.94AB 6.69a Elizabeth (P) 1.63AB 7.13A 3.17B 0.43AB 6.50a Lateblue (P) 1.87A 4.67BC 5.53AB 1.27AB 0.73AB 5.27ab Ozarkblue (L) 1.92A 5.83ABC 4.00AB 0.67AB 0.08B 4.50b Blueberry plantation near Sondrio, Lombardia. P = Piemonte; L = Lombardia. a Means for all cultivar within a column not followed by the same letter differ (P ≤ 0.01 or p ≤ 0.05). b 0-10 continuous partially structured scale, where 0 = absent character, 10 = maximum intensity. CONCLUSIONS The blueberry is suitable for cultivation in acidic soil, not suitable for other crops. The culture, in evolution, represents for small farms in many areas in Northern Italy a source of income. The berries grown in mountainous areas, answer to the modern requirements of the consumers: they are natural, genuine and a source of nutraceutics (Bounous et al, 2002). In many areas of Italy blueberry production is also evaluated by the European labels. To write the disciplinary specifications for production, groups of analysts trained to describe the sensory traits of the produce can be employed. Considering the existing differences among cultivars, area and agrotechnique, it will be necessary to continue with other evaluation sessions in the next years to have a profile of each cultivar.  Elizabeth Coville Blueray ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many thanks to O.N.A.Frut. sensory analysts of Lombardia and Piemonte for their expertise and availability International Society for Horticultural Science 9th International Vaccinium Symposium July 13-16, 2008 - Corvallis, Oregon