3.1. Trained panel evaluation
Table 2 presents the results from the QDA. They suggest that the
sensory attributes elicited to describe samples were adequate, because
it was possible to observe a differentiation among samples, especially
considering the attributes “characteristic flavour of fresh
cherry tomato”, “acid taste”, “firmness”, “crispness” and “chewing resistance”.
It is worth commenting the low average score for the characteristic
aroma of cherry tomato achieved by ENAS1029. Considering
the flavour and texture attributes, it is possible to observe that the attribute
acid taste differed (pb0.05) among genotypes, being the ENAS1029
the least acid, and the ENAS1012 evaluated as the most acid. Crispness
was also very different among tomatoes with means varying from 1.9
(ENAS1008) to 6.3 (ENAS1012). Similar results were observed for firmness,
having ENAS1008 low firmness (mean 1.9), and ENAS1012 an
average of 5.5 for such attribute. On the other hand, ENAS1008 presented
high juiciness (mean 7.5). Pagliarini et al. (2001) reported 21 sensory attributes
to describe their tomato cultivars, and 14 appeared in the PCA
loading plot. Although they didn't comment on the seven attributes
that were not presented in the PCA, the 14 sensory attributes have also
allowed separating samples according to the degree of ripeness, from
firm to juicy, from acid to sweet, and from astringent to fruity.