Total Berry is working on a new technique to provide a more accurate assessment for strawberry taste, quality and maturity measurement than brix.
The company believes the results could give British growers a boost. “British strawberries account for the bulk of our programmes between May and October,” said Drew Reynolds, technical and business development director for Total Produce UK.
“It has been apparent for some time that the sensory quality of many fruits is the result of a complex relationship between sweetness, aroma, texture and appearance,” he added.
“The work already carried out by several research institutes around the world confirms that sweetness, ie the delicate balance of sugar and acid found within fruit, is the primary factor influencing flavour perception.
“But with consumers becoming ever more discerning in their flavour choices, Total Berry has identified the need to expand on this work by ascertaining the exact levels found in berries.
“Our research shows that customers are not looking for supersweet, they are looking for a range of things, but their first priority is origin - the classic English strawberry. While we are still using brix as a standard measurement we are also comparing it against sugar/acid testing to understand more about the flavour balance.
The ongoing project will continue throughout 2012 and is headed up by Caroline Floyd, Total Berry’s technical manager responsible for M&S. She is targeting both commercial varieties, as well as those from Total Berry’s trial site in Kent.
Next year, samples from across the season will be profiled with the overall aim of classifying varieties that have comparable sensory attributes.
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