Consumer preferences for rockmelons in Australia

On the demand side, consumer's decision choice for rockmelon is often compounded by a number of factors including quality, which is often not related to the visual characteristics observed in fruits such as bananas or mangoes. On the supply side, there is a general lack of understanding of consumer response towards rockmelon attributes in Australia and consequently, great fluctuations of demand and hence supply of the fruit. Thus, objectives of this study were to evaluate and compare analytical measures by instruments and sensory assessments by consumers based on sweetness levels (8-13 degrees Brix) of rockmelons. Results indicated that there was a large variation in texture, juiciness and flavour for each degrees Brix level. A significant correlation coefficient (r = 0.829) was obtained between analytical and sensory measures for sweetness. High organoleptic scores for flavour were noted among the higher sweetness levels. It is recommended that due to the change in consumer acceptability, marketing of rockmelons should not be solely based on degrees Brix levels; other attributes such as flavour, texture and juiciness should be utilized.