The Role of Fruit Surface Bloom in Consumer Preference for Blueberries: Sensory Evaluation and Multisensory Interactions

Three blueberry cultivars ('San Joaquin', 'Jewel', and 'Snowchaser') were harvested at commercial maturity and subjected to different degrees of fruit surface bloom removal (full natural bloom (FB), partial bloom (PB), and removed bloom (RB)) to assess the importance of the bloom to consumer preference. Sensory evaluation assessed flavor, appearance, and overall acceptance under different conditions (darkness and light). Panelists preferred berries with at least some degree of bloom, as influenced by appearance for all varieties, and in 'Snowchaser' and 'Jewel', flavor acceptance declined when the evaluation allowed the fruit to be visualized. Panelists were prompted to select the attribute most influencing their affective evaluations to better understand the basis for the differences due to the presence of bloom. FB and PB were rated as more appealing, except for 'Jewel', where PB was deemed unattractive. At the same time, bloom presence influenced firmness choices, and sweetness and tartness preferences were affected by both variety and evaluation conditions, suggesting complex interactions in multisensory perception. Principal component analysis reinforced the idea that treatments with bloom removal were less accepted overall, while 'Snowchaser' samples were consistently well-liked relative to the other two varieties. These findings highlight the importance of bloom presence in blueberry quality perception and consumer behavior.