Comparison of fruit mastication trait among different Citrus reticulata Blanco cv. Kinokuni varieties（lines）

【Objective】The purpose of the study was to compare the differences in mastication trait among different Nanfeng tangerine （Citrus reticulata Blanco cv. Kinokuni）varieties（lines），to screen the varieties（lines）with good mastication trait，and to provide a theoretical basis for fruit quality improvement of Nanfeng tangerine.【Method】 Nine varieties（lines）of Nanfeng tangerine（SS-14， SS-28， SS-2， SS-7， Early-ripe No. 1， Yangxiao 2-6， 97-1， Hongguang and Miguang）were used as experimental materials for sensory evaluation. Segment membrane thickness，texture indexes（maximum shear force，shear work，hardness，springiness，adhesiveness and chewability）and cell wall structure material contents（pectin，cellulose，hemicellulose and lignin）were measured and correlation analysis was carried out. Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method was used to evaluate the performance of mastication trait of Nanfeng tangerine.【Result】 Nine varieties（lines）of Nanfeng tangerine were divided into three grades by sensory evaluation results：good mastication （ Ⅰ ），medium mastication（ Ⅱ）and inferior mastication（Ⅲ） . Among them，Hongguang and Miguang had the best mastication trait and the mastication grade wasⅠ. SS-28，SS-2，Early-ripe No.1 and Yangxiao 2-6 had the fine mastication trait and the mastication grade wasⅡ. The mastication trait of SS-14，SS-7 and 97-1 were the worst and the mastication grade was Ⅲ. The segment membranes of Hongguang and Miguang were the thinnest，while those of SS-7 and SS-14 were the thickest and as 1.68 times as thick as those of Hongguang and Miguang. The maximum shear force of Miguang and Hongguang was greatly lower than that of the other seven Nanfeng tangerine varieties（lines），but the hardness，springiness， adhesiveness and chewability of Miguang were the highest among the 9 varieties（lines） . Among cell wall structure materials，water soluble pectin content of SS-7（13.23 mg/g）was the highest and that of Miguang（4.67 mg/g）was the lowest； cellulose content of SS-14（67.71 mg/g）was the highest and that of Miguang and Hongguang were low；the lignin content of SS-7（15.96 mg/g）was the highest and that of Miguang（8.12 mg/g）was the lowest. The correlation analysis results showed that the segment membrane thickness and the maximum shear force were extremely significantly positively correlated with the mastication grade（^P<0.01） （the larger the mastication grade，the worse the mastication trait） . Shear work， water soluble pectin content，cellulose content and lignin content were significantly positively correlated with mastication grade（P<0.05，the same below） . There was a significant negative correlation between springiness and mastication grade. Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation results of equal weight method and weighted method showed that Miguang had the best mastication trait，and small-fruit line Nanfeng tangerine SS-14 had the worst mastication trait.【Conclusion】 The segment membrane thickness and the maximum shear force can be used as important indicators to judge the fruit mastication trait of Nanfeng tangerine. Among the 9 varieties（lines）of Nanfeng tangerine，Miguang is the first at mastication trait，and small-fruit line Nanfeng tangerine SS-14 is the latest one.