Abstract: The incidence of physiological disorders originating during postharvest handling and storage in citrus fruits have been for many years, and will continue to be, one of the main factors that negatively impacts fruit quality, accounting for significant financial losses. Postharvest physiological disorders of citrus fruit, in most cases, affect mainly the peel and manifest as injuries, pitting, darkening of the tissue, and browning, whereas the pulp, which is a physiologically separate unit of the fruit, remains unaffected.

ABSTRACT.- Although the sensory characterization of mandarins has usually been performed by trained assessors, in recent years, the methodologies that depict sensory descriptions from the perception of consumers, such as the check-all-that-apply (CATA) questionnaires have become very popular. In this work, an exploratory study was first carried out using a focus group (FG) technique to determine attributes and aspects that influence the decision to purchase mandarins. Secondly, the consumer panel recruited 100 regular mandarin consumers that were randomly divided into two groups.

ABSTRACT.- Prevention of the development of chronic diseases related to metabolic syndrome has been found to depend on a healthy diet. Among healthy foods, fruits and vegetables play a very important role due to their nutrient content, especially antioxidants, vitamins and polyphenols. For 20 years, INIA has promoted the concept of quality asso-ciated to the differentiation of products in the fruit and horticultural sectors, considering aspects not only linked to the organoleptic qualities, but also the production processes that ensure food safety and nutritional contribu-tion.