Triangle tests indicate that irrigation timing affects fresh cabbage sensory quality

Abstract A replicated triangle test was employed to determine if judges could distinguish, by tasting, between shredded samples of fresh cabbage drip-irrigated during different periods of plant development. Irrigation was provided either: (1) throughout plant development (no stress, NS), (2) during frame development only (head stress, HS), or (3) during head development only (frame stress, FS). Control plants received no irrigation for the duration of plant development (frame and head stress, FHS). In a total of three sessions, 14 judges evaluated two replications each of the six possible treatment comparisons in triangle tests. Results were analyzed using the beta-binomial model. Judges detected differences ( α =0.05) between cabbage from NS plots and cabbage from the two plots that received no irrigation during head development (HS, FHS), as well as between heads from FS and FHS plots. Physical traits of cabbage heads (e.g. weight, mean diameter, shape) at harvest were also affected by irrigation treatment. This is the first report to suggest that the timing of irrigation relative to crop development may influence the sensory characteristics of fresh cabbage. The data also suggest that cabbage head physical traits may respond more frequently to irrigation than cabbage sensory attributes.

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