|
Sl.No
|
Maturity Indices
|
Fruits / Vegetables
|
|
EXTERNAL
|
|
|
Visual (OECD colour charts)
|
All fruits and most vegetables
|
|
2
|
Calendar date
|
All fruits
|
|
3
|
DFFB
|
All fruits and radish
|
|
4
|
Heat unit
|
Apple,pear,grape,mango, ber,litchi,sweetcorn etc.
|
|
5
|
T-Stage
|
Apple
|
|
6
|
Size
|
All fruits, beans, carrot, cucumber, cherry,
asparagus and cauliflower, zucchini
|
|
7
|
Surface morphology
|
Grape(cuticle formation), banana, mango, sapota, litchi, tomatoes, netting on some melons, glossy ness of some fruits (development of wax)
|
|
8
|
Specific gravity (Sinker/floater)
|
Cherries, mango and ber
|
|
9
|
Fruit retention strength
|
Apple
|
|
10
|
Colour –Surface
Seed
Flesh
Instrument used colourimeter
|
All fruits ,tomato, water melon
Apple , Pears
Mango, papaya, watermelon and muskmelon, tomato(jelly like material)
|
|
11
|
Leaf changes
|
Potato, onion, melons(leaf axis on fruit dries )
|
|
|
Textural Properties
|
|
12
|
Firmness (Penetrometer /Fruit presser tester)
|
Pome and stone fruits, beans, lettuce and melons
|
|
13
|
Tenderness (Tenderometer)
|
Pea
|
|
14
|
Touch/Finger Squeezing
|
Beans, okra, peas
|
|
15
|
Shape
|
Compactness in cabbage, cauliflower & broccoli Angularity of banana
Full shoulder development in mango
|
|
16
|
Abscission layer
|
Melons
|
|
17
|
Solidity-Bulk density/X/Gamma rays
|
Lettuce, cabbage, brussels sprouts
|
|
18
|
Tight bud/ bud crack
Flower opening
|
Rose and many cut flowers Loose flower- crossandra, marigold etc
|
|
INTERNAL
|
|
19
|
Total solids : Dry weight
|
Potato, Avocado, Kiwi fruit etc
|
|
20
|
TSS
|
All fruits ,tomato, water melon
|
|
21
|
Starch content -Iodine test
|
Apple, banana, pear etc
|
|
22
|
Sugar content (Hand Refractrometer)
|
All fruits
|
|
23
|
Acidity or Sugar/acid ratio
|
Pomegranate, citrus, papaya, kiwi fruit and grape
|
|
24
|
Juice Content
|
Citrus Sp.
|
|
25
|
Astringency (Tannin)
|
Persimmon and dates
|
|
26
|
Oil content
|
Avocado
|
|
27
|
Physiological:
Respiration and C2H4 rate
|
Apple and pears and many fruits
|
|
28
|
Optical methods(380-730 nm)
|
Apricot, banana, orange, papaya
|
|
29
|
Aroma
|
Many fruits
|
|
30
|
Fruit opening
|
Nutmeg, chow chow (over mature), Ackee
|
|
31
|
Acoustic / Vibration
|
Melons/ Apple, tomato(unripe 110- ripe 80 Hz)
|
|
32
|
Electrical Characteristics
|
Peach (unripe 550,ripe150 Hertz)
|
|
33
|
Electormagnetic – Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)
|
Apple, banana, avocado peach, pear, onion
|
|
34
|
Near-Infrared reflectance (400-2500 nm)
|
Mango, pineapple
|
|
35
|
Radiation (X-rays & gamma - rays)
|
Lettuce, potato
|
Participants