1 ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE – COMMITTE ON TRADE - Working Party on Agricultural Quality Standards Specialized Section on Standardization of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Fifty-third session, May 2007, Geneva ITEM 4e of the provisional Agenda COPA-COGECA RESEARCH ON QUALITY STANDARDS FOR APPLES Presented to

2 SUMMARY -RESULTS OF COPA-COGECA RESEARCH -HIGH INTER- AND INTRA REGIONAL VARIABILITY -CORRELATION WEIGHT/SUGAR CONTENT -OTHER QUALITY PARAMETERS -CONSUMERS PREFERENCES -NEED TO CONSIDER ALL VARIABLES -THE RISK OF OVERSIMPLIFICATION -IMPORTANCE OF GOOD AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES -CONCLUSIONS

3 COPA/COGECA RESEARCH HIGH INTER- AND INTRA-REGIONAL VARIABILITY - High degree of INTER-REGIONAL VARIABILITY - Set of relevant INTRA-REGIONAL DIFFERENCES ENVIRONMENT IS A BASIC FACTOR ABLE TO DETERMINE QUALITY

4 COPA/COGECA RESEARCH CORRELATION SIZE/SUGAR CONTENT EXISTENCE of a SIGNIFICANT CORRELATION between SIZE and SUGAR CONTENT ITALY, Golden Delicious, thinned and un-thinned, 2004 BELGIUM, Elstar, 2004 Therefore the CURRENT QUALITY SYSTEM based on FRUIT SIZE PREVENTS the MARKETING of POOR QUALITY APPLES

5 COPA/COGECA RESEARCH CORRELATION SIZE/SUGAR CONTENT These considerations can also be applied to other varieties ITALY, Fuji (mountain) after storage, 2006 GERMANY, Jonagold, 2005

6 COPA/COGECA RESEARCH OTHER QUALITY PARAMETERS POLYPHENOLS AND ANTHOCYANINS CONTENT OF APPLES (antioxidant properties) The discrepancy of data among different apple varieties confirms the impossibility to compose a scheme of standardized values NEED TO FIND A SHARED AND REPRESENTATIVE METHOD OF STANDARDIZATION

7 CORRELATION SIZE / QUALITY Both experts and consumers were clearly able to recognise apples of different size and appreciated fruit of bigger size COPA/COGECA RESEARCH TRIANGLE TEST: expert panellists and consumers

8 COPA/COGECA RESEARCH CORRELATION SIZE / QUALITY SCALE TEST: expert panellists The test shows the ability of panelists to distinguish among various apple quality parameters, underlying the differences in apple dimensions

9 COPA/COGECA RESEARCH IMPORTANCE OF GOOD AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES (GAP) GAP REDUCE THE NEED FOR QUALITY PARAMETERS EASIEST AND SAFEST WAY TO REACH A QUALITY LEVEL ACCEPTABLE IN A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE FOR CONSUMERS, TRADERS AND PRODUCERS GALA, ALTO ADIGE - SOUTH TYROL Green dots: production from thinned trees Red Dots: production from un-thinned trees Blue horizontal line: 9 °brix level (UNECE Recommendation for Apples) Black vertical line (80 grams, actual EC minimum weight for Gala, Class I) GAP to OBTAIN APPLES OF THE BEST QUALITY

10 CONCLUSIONS INTRODUCTION OF NEW QUALITY PARAMETERS - RESEARCH SHOWS A POSITIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN SIZE / WEIGHT AND SUGAR CONTENT - SOME APPLE VARIETIES POSSESS HEALTH RELATED PROPERTIES THAT CANNOT BE MEASURED THROUGH SIMPLIFIED METHODS - PANELLISTS AND CONSUMERS HAVE PROVED THAT FRUIT SIZE IS ACTUALLY RELATED TO THE OVERALL PERCEPTION OF QUALITY - GOOD AGRICULTURE PRACTICES ARE ABLE TO REDUCE THE NEED FOR QUALITY PARAMETERS

11 CONCLUSIONS NEED TO ESTABLISH QUALITY STANDARDS EASY TO BE IMPLEMENTED AND CONTROLLED NECESSITY TO FOLLOW THE PATH OF SIMPLIFICATION, BUT MAINTAINING CLARITY TOWARDS CONSUMERS AND DISTRIBUTORS THE USE OF MINIMUM SIZE / WEIGHT AS A QUALITY PARAMETRE COULD PREVENT MARKET ACCESS FOR APPLES NOT MEETING ACCEPTABLE STANDARDS