Consumer acceptance of carrot cultivars associated with volatile and non-volatile metabolic profiles

Sensory parameters have a significant influence on consumer acceptance of vegetables and fruits. Breeding approaches to improve sensory quality and acceptance of carrot cultivars are still in their infancy. A complex experiment was designed to gain deeper insight into consumer preference decisions for carrots. Sensory parameters and profiles of volatile and non-volatile compounds of 16 carrot cultivars were recorded and the influence on carrot consumers’ preference decisions was investigated. An untrained panel of 88 testers was used to conduct a sensory test that provided a clear acceptance-based differentiation between cultivars. The additional sensory characteristics, sweetness, aroma, bitterness, astringency, and off-flavour were used for correlation analyses with acceptance. Chemical analyses of volatile and nonvolatile compounds such as terpenes, polyacetylenes, phenylpropanoids, and sugars allowed the study of their influence on sensory perception. Hexanal and β- caryophyllene were positively associated with acceptance, sweetness and aroma perception. In contrast, higher concentrations of camphene, bornylacetate, borneol, myristicin, falcarindiol, falcarindiol-3-acetate, laserine, and 2-epilaserine correlated with a low acceptance and greater perception of bitterness, astringency, and off-flavour. In the future, the data may support breeding of carrot cultivars that better meet consumer requirements.