Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Differences between organic and conventional leafy green vegetables perceived by university students

Differences between organic and conventional leafy green vegetables perceived by university students The purpose of this paper is to evaluate perceived sensory differences of organic and conventional leafy green vegetables through three sensory tests – blind, informed and inverted and the willingness to buy (WTB) them, and associated factors of organic food consumption by these students.Design/methodology/approachThe research had a cross-sectional design with university students. First, a questionnaire with 16 statements was presented to 233 consumers with a five-point Likert scale response. The assertions were categorized into five domains: trust in organic production; trust in conventional production; positive attitude to organic; affordable price; and perceived quality. Afterwards, a hedonic scaling was conducted with 150 consumers, 50 in each type of test with conventional and organic leafy green vegetables: lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.); kale (Brassica oleracea L.); common chicory (Cichorium intybus); and endive (Cichorium endivia). Visual aspect, taste, texture, bitterness and overall liking for all samples were evaluated on a nine-point hedonic scale.FindingsIn general, the participants did not perceive sensory differences during the blind test, but when the information about the vegetables was provided, higher scores were obtained by those products labelled as organic in the informed test and in the inverted test (conventional labelled as organic). This effect was higher for students with stronger attitudes towards organic food. These results indicated that the perceived differences between organic and conventional leafy green by university students tended to be attitudinal and, therefore, can be greatly influenced by the information provided with the product.Originality/valueThis research showed that university students were influenced by the organic label, revealing their sensory perception about vegetables. This study had multiple methodological approaches, including hedonic scaling and consumers’ WTB. This combination allowed identifying the students’ attitudinal tendency in relation to their sensory perceptions of organic green leafy green vegetables. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png British Food Journal Emerald Publishing

Differences between organic and conventional leafy green vegetables perceived by university students

Download PDF
13 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/differences-between-organic-and-conventional-leafy-green-vegetables-CB0tTT7TDg
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
0007-070X
DOI
10.1108/bfj-08-2018-0503
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate perceived sensory differences of organic and conventional leafy green vegetables through three sensory tests – blind, informed and inverted and the willingness to buy (WTB) them, and associated factors of organic food consumption by these students.Design/methodology/approachThe research had a cross-sectional design with university students. First, a questionnaire with 16 statements was presented to 233 consumers with a five-point Likert scale response. The assertions were categorized into five domains: trust in organic production; trust in conventional production; positive attitude to organic; affordable price; and perceived quality. Afterwards, a hedonic scaling was conducted with 150 consumers, 50 in each type of test with conventional and organic leafy green vegetables: lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.); kale (Brassica oleracea L.); common chicory (Cichorium intybus); and endive (Cichorium endivia). Visual aspect, taste, texture, bitterness and overall liking for all samples were evaluated on a nine-point hedonic scale.FindingsIn general, the participants did not perceive sensory differences during the blind test, but when the information about the vegetables was provided, higher scores were obtained by those products labelled as organic in the informed test and in the inverted test (conventional labelled as organic). This effect was higher for students with stronger attitudes towards organic food. These results indicated that the perceived differences between organic and conventional leafy green by university students tended to be attitudinal and, therefore, can be greatly influenced by the information provided with the product.Originality/valueThis research showed that university students were influenced by the organic label, revealing their sensory perception about vegetables. This study had multiple methodological approaches, including hedonic scaling and consumers’ WTB. This combination allowed identifying the students’ attitudinal tendency in relation to their sensory perceptions of organic green leafy green vegetables.

Journal

British Food Journal – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jun 12, 2019

Keywords: Brazil; Sensory evaluation; Labelling; Consumer attitudes; Organic food; Willingness to buy

References

  • Personal determinants of organic food consumption: a review
    Aertsens, J.; Verbeke, W.; Mondelaers, K.; Van Huylenbroeck, G.
  • Higher antioxidant and lower cadmium concentrations and lower incidence of pesticide residues in organically grown crops: a systematic literature review and meta-analyses
    Barański, M.; Średnicka-Tober, D.; Volakakis, N.; Seal, C.; Sanderson, R.; Stewart, G.B.; Benbrook, C.; Biavati, B.; Markellou, E.; Giotis, C.; Gromadzka-Ostrowska, J.; Rembiałkowska, E.; Skwarło-Sońta, K.; Tahvonen, R.; Janovská, D.; Niggli, U.; Nicot, P.; Leifert, C.
  • Organic consumption and diet choice: an analysis based on food purchase data in France
    Boizot-Szantai, C.; Hamza, O.; Soler, L.-G.
  • The role of food quality certification on consumers’ food choices
    Botonaki, A.; Polymeros, K.; Tsakiridou, E.; Mattas, K.
  • A Comparison of the nutritional value, sensory qualities, and food safety of organically and conventionally produced foods
    Bourn, D.; Prescott, J.
  • Attitude toward organic foods among Taiwanese as related to health consciousness, environmental attitudes, and the mediating effects of a healthy lifestyle
    Chen, M.F.
  • Low-carbohydrate, high-fat dieters: characteristic food choice motivations, health perceptions and behaviours
    Clarke, C.; Best, T.
  • Organic agriculture promotes evenness and natural pest control
    Crowder, D.W.; Northfield, T.D.; Strand, M.R.; Snyder, W.E.
  • Nitrogen and sulfur effects on leaf lettuce quality1
    Cuppett, S.L.; Mcvey, M.M.; Paparozzi, E.T.; Parkhurst, A.
  • Nutritional quality of organic foods: a systematic review
    Dangour, A.D.; Dodhia, S.K.; Hayter, A.; Allen, E.; Lock, K.; Uauy, R.
  • Stress-induced phenylpropanoid metabolism
    Dixon, R.A.; Paiva, N.L.
  • Bitter taste, phytonutrients, and the consumer: a review
    Drewnowski, A.; Gomez-Carneros, C.
  • Polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity in organic and conventional plant foods
    Faller, A.L.K.; Fialho, E.
  • G*power 3: a flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences
    Faul, F.; Erdfelder, E.; Lang, A.-G.; Buchner, A.
  • Flavonoids as anti-inflammatory agents: implications in cancer and cardiovascular disease
    García-Lafuente, A.; Guillamón, E.; Villares, A.; Rostagno, M.A.; Martínez, J.A.
  • Food quality assessment in organic vs conventional agricultural produce: findings and issues
    Gomiero, T.
  • Organic food product purchase behaviour: a pilot study for urban consumers in the South of Italy
    Gracia, A.; De Magistris, T.
  • Effects of sensory labels on taste acceptance of commercial food products
    Imm, B.-Y.; Lee, J.H.; Lee, S.H.
  • Differences in dietary patterns between older and younger obese and overweight outpatients
    Inelmen, E.M.; Toffanello, E.D.; Enzi, G.; Sergi, G.; Coin, A.; Busetto, L.; Manzato, E.
  • Nitrate in foods: harmful or healthy?
    Katan, M.B.
  • Effect of organic and conventional cropping systems on ascorbic Acid, Vitamin C, Flavonoids, Nitrate, and Oxalate in 27 varieties of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.)
    Koh, E.; Charoenprasert, S.; Mitchell, A.E.
  • Australians’ organic food beliefs, demographics and values
    Lea, E.; Worsley, T.
  • Eating ‘green’: motivations behind organic food consumption in Australia
    Lockie, S.; Lyons, K.; Lawrence, G.; Mummery, K.
  • Preços de frutas e hortaliças da agricultura orgância no mercado varejista da cidade de São Paulo
    Martins, V.A.; Camargo Filho, W.P.; Bueno, C.R.F.
  • Eating for pleasure or just wanting to eat? Reconsidering sensory hedonic responses as a driver of obesity
    Mela, D.J.
  • Microbiological quality of organic and conventional leafy vegetables
    Merlini, V.V.; Pena, F.D.L.; Da Cunha, D.T.; De Oliveira, J.M.; Rostagno, M.A.; Antunes, A.E.C.
  • Cenário mundial e nacional da produção de alimentos orgânicos
    Mooz, E.D.; Silva, M.V.D.
  • Predictors of children’s food selection: the role of children’s perceptions of the health and taste of foods
    Nguyen, S.P.; Girgis, H.; Robinson, J.
  • Consumo de produtos orgânicos no Brasil
  • Vegetables and other core food groups: a comparison of key flavour and texture properties
    Poelman, A.A.M.; Delahunty, C.M.; De Graaf, C.
  • Nitrogen fertilizer influences fruit quality, Soil nutrients and cover crops, leaf color and nitrogen content, biennial bearing and cold hardiness of ‘golden delicious’
    Raese, J.T.; Drake, S.R.; Curry, E.A.
  • Consumer motivations in the purchase of organic food: a means-end approach
    Raffaele, Z.; Simona, N.
  • Consumer behavior and purchase intention for organic food: a review and research agenda
    Rana, J.; Paul, J.
  • Masking vegetable bitterness to improve palatability depends on vegetable type and taste phenotype
    Sharafi, M.; Hayes, J.E.; Duffy, V.B.
  • Smell images and the flavour system in the human brain
    Shepherd, G.M.
  • Adolescents’ attitudes towards organic food: a survey of 15- to 16-year old school children
    Stobbelaar, D.J.; Casimir, G.; Borghuis, J.; Marks, I.; Meijer, L.; Zebeda, S.
  • Food phenolics, pros and cons: a review
    Umar Lule, S.; Xia, W.