Postharvest Biology and Technology 57 (2010) 35–43 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Postharvest Biology and Technology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/postharvbio The impact of dry matter, ripeness and internal defects on consumer perceptions of avocado quality and intentions to purchase Joanna Gamble a , F. Roger Harker a,∗ , Sara R. Jaeger a , Anne White a , Christina Bava a , Michelle Beresford a , Barbara Stubbings b , Mark Wohlers a , Peter J. Hofman b , Roberto Marques b , Allan Woolf a a The Plant and Food Research Institute of New Zealand Ltd., Mt. Albert Research Centre, Private Bag 92169, Auckland Mail Centre, Auckland 1142, New Zealand b Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, Maroochy Research Station, PO Box 5083, Sunshine Coast Mail Centre, Nambour, Queensland 4560, Australia article info Article history: Received 19 January 2009 Accepted 11 January 2010 Keywords: Maturity Firmness Postharvest disorders Bruising Purchase intention ‘Hass’ Persea americana abstract Insights into the relative importance of various aspects of product quality can be provided through quan- titative analysis of consumer preference and choice of fruit. In this study, methods previously used to establish taste preferences for kiwifruit (Harker et al., 2008) and conjoint approaches were used to deter- mine the influence of three key aspects of avocado quality on consumer liking and willingness to purchase fruit: dry matter percentage (DM), level of ripeness (firmness) and internal defects (bruising). One hun- dred and seven consumers tasted avocados with a range of DM levels from ∼20% (minimally mature) to nearly 40% (very mature), and at a range of fruit firmness (ripeness) stages (firm-ripe to soft-ripe). Responses to bruising, a common quality defect in fruit obtained from the retail shelf, were examined using a conjoint approach in which consumers were presented with photographs showing fruit affected by damage of varying severity. In terms of DM, consumers showed a progressive increase in liking and intent to buy avocados as the DM increased. In terms of ripeness, liking and purchase intent was higher in avocados that had softened to a firmness of 6.5 N or below (hand-rating 5). For internal defects, con- joint analysis revealed that price, level of bruising and incidence of bruising all significantly lowered consumers’ future purchase decision, but the latter two factors had a greater impact than price. These results indicate the usefulness of the methodology, and also provide realistic targets for Hass avocado quality on the retail shelf. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Avocados are highly perishable compared to other produce. While fruit are often stored for 4 weeks, it is a challenge to com- mercially store fruit for 6 weeks (Woolf et al., 2004; Seymour and Tucker, 1993), the fruit is ethylene sensitive and has a short shelf- life once ripening has been initiated (Hopkirk et al., 1994), and the fruit are highly susceptible to latent infections that are expressed during ripening (Everett et al., 2003; Hopkirk et al., 1994; White et al., 2005) as well as to physiological disorders associated with chilling injury (Woolf et al., 2004; White et al., 2005). Given the physiological behaviour of the fruit and its susceptibility to rots, it is not surprising that this fruit provides some distinct challenges for both marketers and consumers. For the ‘Hass’ cultivar, the major flesh defects in fruit from the retail shelf are rots and bruising (Hofman et al., 2001). These are not obvious on the outside of the ripe fruit, so consumers can be disappointed when, upon cutting ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +64 9 9257000; fax: +64 9 9257001. E-mail address: rharker@hortresearch.co.nz (F.R. Harker). and preparing fruit for consumption, they discover that the flesh is damaged or rotten (Everett et al., 2003). Bruising can occur as avocados move through the supply chain as well as during the squeezing of individual fruit during selection by consumers (Arpaia et al., 1987; Hofman et al., 2001). One of the unique aspects of the biology of avocado is the way it matures on the tree. The avocado fruit does not ripen until har- vested (Schroeder, 1953) and may be retained on the tree for 12 months or more after reaching physiological maturity (i.e. ability to ripen) (Woolf et al., 2004). This means that horticultural maturity can be manipulated by simply delaying harvest and allows mar- keters to co-ordinate harvest when demand is strong. Fruit picked early in the season have been reported as having poor texture (rub- bery, unevenly ripe, stringy) and flavour (watery, green, bitter) (Harding, 1954; Lee et al., 1983; Pak et al., 2003). Research early in the last century in California demonstrated that eating qual- ity of avocados improved over the harvest period, and that this was associated with increasing oil content (Hodgkin, 1928, 1939). However, measuring oil content of avocados is time consuming and difficult, so dry matter percentage (DM) has been developed as a faster and low-technology alternative for assessing maturity (Lee 0925-5214/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.postharvbio.2010.01.001