Tropical and subtropical vegetables (2+1)

Maturity standards and post harvest management

• Optimum maturity depends upon the marketing and other processing purpose. The maturity stage of tomato fruit is classified by USDA as mature green, breaker, turning, pink, light red and red. Red ripe tomatoes are preferred for local market, for processing, fruits at the fully matured green, turning red and pink are preferred for long distance market and storage. The Bureau of Indian standards has specified four grades, viz. super A, super, fancy and commercial.