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Understanding consumer perceptions and attitudes to specific fruit is key information for not only increasing fruit consumption, but also for marketing reasons. It may also give clues to breeders to set quality objectives. This study explores different aspects that help to explain blood vs. blond orange consumption: availability and consumption habit, satisfaction attributes, facilitators and consumption barriers, consumption contexts, expectations and purchase intention. The study was conducted in China, Mexico, Spain and Italy, where citrus fruit consumers were invited to respond an online questionnaire. Our results revealed Italy as the country with the highest availability and consumption of blood oranges, followed by China, Mexico and Spain. "Liking" and "healthy properties" were the most important reasons for consumption irrespectively of orange type, but certain differences among countries were detected in secondary reasons. In all the countries, "juicy" was the most relevant attribute for consumer satisfaction, followed by flavour/taste attributes. "Aromatic" and "unfibrous" were substantial requirements for Italians and Chinese, while Spaniards attached importance to the blood oranges colour. Regarding consumption contexts, "eat with salt or chilly powder" was specific for Mexico, while "to improve health", "as a gift" or "at a restaurant" were contexts mainly cited in China. Despite taste preferences for other fruit being the main consumption barrier in all the countries for both orange types, the relevance of other barriers depended on culture and orange type. Mexican participants seemed to take a more neophobic attitude to blood oranges, while "inconvenient" was reported as a barrier for consuming blond ones in Spain and China. We conclude that blond and blood oranges can co-exist on markets at a high consumption rate, as in Italy. Specific interventions are needed in other countries because consumer attitudes to oranges, mainly blood ones, depend on culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ancient apple cultivars are known for their organoleptic properties over a small geographic area, but little is known of their nutraceutical properties, which might be useful in large-scale breeding programmes. Nine ancient apple cultivars from Tuscany (Italy) were characterized for their organoleptic properties, phenolic profiles, and antioxidant activity. These cultivars had high polyphenol concentrations (principally flavanols and phenolic acids) and high total antioxidant capacity compared with most commercial apple cultivars. Fruits from the cultivars 'San Michele' and 'Del Debbio' showed a good compromise between fruit size and solid soluble content, and might be suitable for fresh consumption, while fruit from 'Benito', 'Della Piastra', 'Lugliese Grisanti', 'Del Sangue' and 'Ruggine' had high polyphenol contents and excellent antioxidant capacity, and may be suitable for breeding programmes. 'Ruggine' fruit could also be used for sweet juices with good nutraceutical properties due to their high soluble solid content and high flavanol concentration., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)