VISUAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE ESTHETIC QUALITY OF THE ROSEBUSH

ABSTRACT Since its introduction into the analysis of foodstuffs, sensory analysis has been applied in several contexts. This work seeks to widen the field of sensory analysis to include ornamental plants and to characterize their esthetic quality. Using the rosebush as a plant model, an attribute generation protocol is proposed in order to develop a conventional profile of such products. Further to statistical treatments aiming to verify the unambiguity, discrimination and independence of these attributes, a reduced list of 18 attributes has been set up. These attributes make up the very core of the conventional profiling studies currently undertaken . PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS The generation of a list of attributes that is not too long, in order to describe plants as exhaustively as possible, is one of the first steps of extending sensory analysis methods to ornamental horticulture. This list will be used to train a panel of assessors to characterize the rosebush. Two applications are in progress. The first application consists of evaluating the impact of nitrogen nutrition on the visual quality of the rosebush. The second has the objective of determining which characteristics influence consumer preferences.