Breeding for Blueberry Flavor

Text Transcript with Description of Visuals

Audio	Video
[ Music ]	Screen Text: Washington State University College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences. Opening montage: packaged blueberries in a supermarket; filling test tubes in a laboratory; two people reviewing data on computer screens; trays of clear plastic cups containing blueberries, then one tray being passed through a hatch to a test subject; close-up of blueberries on a bush. Screen Text: Vac Cap. Improving Fruit Quality. Breeding for Blueberry Flavor.
Blueberry consumer experience can be inconsistent. So increased production of blueberry that has more consistent fruit quality may help sustain or even increase consumption.	Close-up of blueberries and bananas tumbling into a blender, followed by a sun-drenched blueberry field.
Finding the link between fruit characteristics such as texture, sugars, organic acids, and volatiles and consumer preference is key. So that breeders can target key fruit characteristics in genetic studies and breed for new cultivars that have those characteristics.	A single blueberry is taken from a wooden bowl, followed by clusters of blueberries on bushes. Blueberries are placed atop a dessert. Rows of blueberries in covered fields.
In this video, we will learn how Dr. Charlie Sims at the University of Florida generates consumer sensory data that is leveraged by blueberry breeding programs to select and release more flavorful blueberries that meet consumers' expectations for quality.	A man sits at a desk reviewing documents, then looks at computer screens with an associate. Followed by packaged fruit in a supermarket.
Well, my role in this project is to do consumer sensory testing of several different blueberry varieties. So in the first two years, we've looked at 20 varieties each year. And these varieties range from something that we thought was pretty good to pretty bad. And we wanted to get people's reaction to that. So regular consumers of blueberries, we wanted to measure how much they liked these different blueberry varieties and how much they liked certain characteristics: the appearance, the sweetness, and the texture. And then this information would be fed back to the breeders.	Charles sits in a food testing lab and speaks to the camera. Screen Text: Doctor Charles Sims, Professor, Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Florida.
Take this data and try to find other parameters that are related to consumer liking.	Three men holding computer tablets are in a greenhouse of blueberry bushes.
The consumer is the ultimate -- consumer of the blueberries, they're the ones who are going to buy this blueberry. So their opinion is very, very important. And you can't simulate what a human is going to think about this. We still can't duplicate what happens in someone's mouth and their brain when they consume a food product.	A single blueberry is taken from a wooden bowl, then a man in a supermarket selects packaged fruit, followed by packaged desserts decorated with blueberries.
So we have to use people to capture this information, basically.	A woman in a test lab sits in front of a computer screen and a tray of three cups containing blueberries.
Well, it would start out by recruiting panelists. So we have a large database of potential panelists that we recruit from via email. And we would recruit consumers of blueberries. So we want people who do consume blueberries on a regular basis. And then we would invite them to come in and do the test.	Charles speaks to camera.
And then we would coordinate with Dr. Munoz on the varieties that we would be tested that day. In a sensory test, you can only do about five varieties at a time. More than that and the consumers just kind of lose interest.	Blueberries being washed in the lab, then divided into labeled packages. Blueberries from each package are put into clear plastic cups on trays.
And so he selects the five varieties and we set up those five varieties and then the panelists would come in and we have a questionnaire design that's all computerized. And so the panelists would check in and consent to be a panelist. And then they would go into one of our booths and then our workers would basically pass through the blueberry samples in small cups and they would go through the evaluation. And then we give them a small reward at the end, a financial reward. And then we analyze the data after it's all over.	Test subjects walk to partitioned booths. A tray of blueberries in three cups is passed through a hatch. Subjects taste blueberries and enter data into a computer screen.
Well, it provides the plant breeder with some real-world information on what consumers like and don't like about the blueberries. So once they've identified that there are certain flavor volatiles, we know if they can put more sugar in a blueberry, the more consumers are going to like it.	Subjects pass the trays back through the hatch.
But can they alter the flavor characteristics or the texture characteristics that will improve consumer liking? Well, some of the data that we've generated. We've tested 40 different varieties now and we certainly have a range of quality levels. So we know some of the characteristics of blueberries that consumers don't like and some that they do really like. But it's pretty consistent. The varieties that are rated the highest are the ones that tend to be highest up on the breeding program list.	Charles speaks to camera.
And it does seem to be pretty predictive of what the plant breeder is doing. The plant breeders are doing a good job of developing good varieties. There's no question about that. In certain blueberries, there are some unique flavors and there are some unique textures. And so some blueberries, people describe as crunchy. And that's a very important characteristic that a lot of people really like. No one likes a soft mushy blueberry and no one likes one that's too hard. But that crunchy aspect is something that we've picked up, that consumers do tend to like, and is something that people are working on measuring that crunchiness per se.	Overhead view of rows of blueberry bushes in a greenhouse, followed by packaged blueberries in a supermarket.
And then over and beyond sweetness, we know sweet drives consumer liking. But there's also some unique flavors and certain blueberries taste more like a blueberry than others. Some are just purple sweet pockets, and then some of them have a lot of flavor characteristics. So we are finding that the flavor is not the same across all blueberries and that some of them do have a flavor that panelists like better, consumers like better.	Close-up of clusters of blueberries on bushes.
The information that we get from the consumer acceptability and preference panel really is going to provide information that would relate to the sugar content and the texture, and the physical parameters of a blueberry. And that's something that would be very important for the plant breeders to determine. So if we can tell them which varieties consumers like and which ones they don't like, then they can look at the genetics of all of these different varieties and lines that they're developing and hopefully use this information to identify ways to improve the variety development.	Close-up of the test panel's computer screen showing a sliding scale for sweetness, sourness, firmness, juiciness, and overall flavor. Followed by a woman with a clipboard walking through a greenhouse examining blueberry bushes.
So I think consumers in the future should expect a better quality blueberry and a more consistent quality blueberry. a blueberry with consistent appearance, with a good texture, and maybe even better texture than we have now, a better flavor and sweeter. And who knows? Perhaps more nutritional value. [ Music ]	Blueberries are arranged atop a cake, followed by close-ups of picked blueberries, berries being washed, and berries on a bush.
[ Music ]	Screen Text: Produced by C A H N R S Communications, Washington State University. Executive Producer Lisa Wasko DeVetter, Washington State University. Thanks to Doctor Charlie Sims, F S H N Sensory Testing Lab, University of Florida. Funding provided by United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Award number two zero one nine dash five one one eight one dash three zero zero one five. Collaborating Institutions: U S D A Agricultural Research Service; Cedar Lake Research Group L L C; University of Florida; Fondazione Edmund Mach; University of Georgia; Michigan State University; Mississippi State University; N C State University; N R S P One Zero Crop Database Resources; Plant and Food Research Rangahau Ahumara Kai; Rutgers; Washington State University; University of Wisconsin Madison. Vac Cap. Improving Fruit Quality. Washington State University College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences.