Fruit quality, flavor and aroma volatiles compositions of the new superior mandarin varieties ‘Einav’, ‘Saar’, ‘Sigal’, ‘Tamar’, and ‘Orit’

The Israeli citrus breeding program at the Volcani Institute released more than 50 citrus varieties, among them ‘Orri’ mandarins, that are highly requested in international markets. In this study, we examined the quality, flavor, consumer acceptance, and aroma volatiles compositions of five new superior mandarin varieties from the Israeli citrus breeding program, namely ‘Einav’, ‘Saar’, ‘Sigal,’ Tamar”, and ‘Orit’, as compared to ‘Orri’ mandarins. Fruit quality analysis revealed that some of the new varieties differed from ‘Orri’ in various traits, including fruit size, peel color, number of seeds, vitamin C levels and antioxidant activity. Consumer acceptance tests revealed that some new varieties achieved higher scores than ‘Orri’ in particular traits, such as seedlessness, and ease of peeling and overall acceptance. Descriptive sensory analysis by the aid of a trained panel revealed that all new varieties had high sweetness and fruitiness and moderate sourness attributes similar to “Orri.” Aroma volatiles analysis by GC-MS revealed that ‘Einav’, ‘Sigal’, and ‘Orit’ have similar aroma volatile compositions as “Orri”, while ‘Saar’ had more aldehydes and “Tamar” had more sesquiterpenes. Overall, it is concluded that some of the new released mandarin varieties are equal or even superior to ‘Orri’ in specific fruit quality traits.