Maturity index & Maturity of Fruits and Vegetables
- Visual indices. It is most convenient index. Certain signals on the plant or on the fruit can be used as pointers. E.
- Seed development. It can also be used as an index of fruit maturity, e.g. endocarp hardening for stone and fiber...
- Start of bud damage. Occasionally it can be used as an index of fruit maturity...
| Stage of maturity | Days | Ethephon doses (ppm) |
|---|---|---|
| Green | 1 | 23.99a |
| Slightly ripen | 3 | 33.53c |
| Slightly ripen | 5 | 66.44a |
| Slightly ripen | 7 | 69.35a |
What are indices of maturity of fruits and vegetables?
The indices of maturity are also termed as Standards of maturity or the Maturity signs. Signs of maturity would be of great help in the judgement of fruits and vegetable maturity.
What is the meaning of horticultural maturity?
Horticultural maturity. It is a developmental stage of the fruit on the tree, which will result in a satisfactory product after harvest. Physiological maturity. It refers to the stage in the development of the fruits and vegetables when maximum growth and maturation has occurred.
What determines the value of fruits and vegetables in market?
As the value of fruits and vegetables in the market is completely dependent on the quality of produce, complete knowledge about indices of maturity at the correct stage of the harvest will have great importance.
How does the maturity of fruit at harvest affect their quality?
In summary, the maturity of fruit at harvest will significantly affect their quality along the post-harvest value chain. Therefore, accurate, efficient, and effective maturity indices must be applied to ensure high quality at all levels along the value chain.
What are maturity indices of fruits and vegetables?
Maturity indices are the sign or indication the readiness of the commodity for harvest. It is the basis for determining harvest date. A. Physiological maturity: It refers to the stage in the development of the fruits and vegetables when maximum growth and maturation has occurred.
What are the seed maturity indices of vegetable crops?
Determination of maturity indices: Maturity can be judged by various means like:Computational methods. a) Calendar date. b) Days after anthesis/pollination.Physical methods. a) Increase in size. b) Color development. ... Chemical methods. a) Increase in sugar content. b) Increase in fiber content. ... Physiological methods.
What is maturity vegetable crops?
Maturation is indicative of the fruit being ready for harvest. At this point, the edible part of the fruit or vegetable is fully developed in size, although it may not be ready for immediate consumption. Ripening follows or overlaps maturation, rendering the produce edible, as indicated by taste.
What are the maturity indices in leafy vegetables?
Findings: The determination of horticultural maturity varies but in general the maturity indicators of intact leafy vegetables are size, head length, head width, firmness and compactness. For non-heading lettuces, the number of leaves can be used as a harvest index.
Why is it important to determine the maturity indices of vegetable crops?
Harvest maturity is considered as one of the most important factors that determine the quality viz., appearance, texture, flavour, nutritive value as well as the postharvest life of the vegetable crops, which include a large number of species belonging to different plant families.
What are the common indices of crop maturity?
Size, shape, and surface characteristics. Changes in the size, shape, or surface charac- teristics of fruits and vegetables are common- ly used as maturity indices. For example, veg- etables in particular are harvested when they have reached a marketable size and before they become too large.
What are the types of maturity of fruits and vegetables?
The maturity has been divided into two categories i.e. physiological maturity and horticultural maturity.Horticultural maturity/Commercial maturity.Stage of development when plant parts possess the necessary characteristics preferred by consumers.Depends on the intended use e.g. papaya, jackfruit.
What is maturity indices of potato?
1. Potatoes are harvested when they attain sufficient size. Early varieties 57 to 100 days, late varieties 120- 160 days. 2. Skin slipping from the tuber, starch content and leaf senescence or top drying are the harvest indices.
What is the maturity indices of onion?
Harvest Maturity Indices Bunching onions are typically ready for harvest 50 to 60 days after seeding, depending on environmental conditions, planting density, and cultivar. Shallots are generally ready for harvest 60 to 70 days after seeding.
What are the maturity indices of cabbage?
Maturity Signs of Cabbage:At low elevations cabbage varieties mature in about 62 to 110 days from field setting and about 81 to 125 days at high elevations.Solidity and firmness of head are the usual maturity characteristics used.Head colour turns a lighter shade of green when full development is a attained.More items...•
What is the maturity indices of rice?
Maturity Indices for Rice for Harvesting Time from planting to harvesting varies from 4 to 6 months. Rice is ready for harvesting when: • Grains are hard when chewed, turning yellow / brown. About 80% of the grains have changed colour from green to straw colour. The rest of the grains being in the hard dough stage.
What is the maturity indices of banana?
The maturity of banana is indicated by drying of top leaves, change in colour of fruits from dark green to light green and tendency of the floral end of the fruit to fall by slightest touch by hand. The mature fruit becomes plumpy and all the angles are filled in completely. When tapped the fruit gives metallic sound.
What is the maturity indices of onion?
Harvest Maturity Indices Bunching onions are typically ready for harvest 50 to 60 days after seeding, depending on environmental conditions, planting density, and cultivar. Shallots are generally ready for harvest 60 to 70 days after seeding.
What are the maturity indices of cabbage?
Maturity Signs of Cabbage:At low elevations cabbage varieties mature in about 62 to 110 days from field setting and about 81 to 125 days at high elevations.Solidity and firmness of head are the usual maturity characteristics used.Head colour turns a lighter shade of green when full development is a attained.More items...•
What is horticultural maturity?
Horticultural maturity: Whe n a plant. or plant part possesses the pre requ isites for utilization. (Selvakumar, 2014). In physiological. sense, maturity refers to the attainment of final stage of biological function by a plant part or. the plant as a whole.
Why is maturity important?
Maturity indices are important for deciding when a given commodity should be harvested to provide some marketing flexibility and to ensure the attainment of acceptable eating quality to the consumer. Maturity is the stage of development ...
How long does it take for cucumbers to be harvested?
7. Cucumber: Fruits can be harvested from 45 days after sowing. The tender fruits (for
What is the stage of fruit when the fruit is fully red colored and soft?
f) Over ripe stage: It is the stage of fruit when the fruit is fully red colored and soft. At
Why do farmers harvest on the evening hours?
produce on t he evening hours to ensure minimum losses and better quality. Avo id harvesting
What color are matoes?
local market, pink to light red to matoes are harvested. Depending on t he purpose six maturity
When should I harvest chilli?
12. Chilli: Chilli should be harvested at fully mature and before change from green to
What is the maturity of fruits and vegetables?
The maturity of fruits and vegetables generally refers to the attachment of the last stage of the biological function of the part of a plant or the complete plant. It can also be a specific stage in the plant life of the fruit in which they grow ...
How does fruit maturity affect quality?
To summarize the entire thing, the fruit maturity will have a great effect on the quality all along the chain of post-harvest. Maturity indices that are efficient, effective and accurate will have to be applied to make sure that the quality is high in all the levels including the value chain. The single maturity index will not be used for the determination of fruit maturity in a predominant way. It is always suggested to make use of various parameters parallelly for the improvement of the determination accuracy. Moreover, the application of one maturity index cannot be done all along with the cultivars of a similar crop. There would be minute differences across the cultivars.
What happens when the maturity of a fruit is higher?
If the maturity is higher, then there would be fewer days needed for the ripening of fruit. But the fruits which are ripened from the early harvests and of quality which is poor can be known by the organoleptic ratings which are low and with the maturity and quality which is increasing.
How to tell when a fruit is ready to harvest?
Few fruits may also have changes in the texture at the time of maturity and these species can also be made use of for the determination of the time of harvest. The changes in texture can be detected in a subjective way by touch or squeezing them in a gentle manner. However, the measurement which is done in an objective way can be got by the usage of the pressure testers and the analyzers of texture.
How long does it take for a fruit to set?
In a few types of fruits, the time consumed for the fruit setting till the fruit initiates showing maturity signs are recorded and these can also be used for the determination of the time of harvest. For example, in the fruits like Alphonso and Pairi which are varieties of mango, it would take almost 125 days after the fruit gets set for the colour of the surface to get modified from dark green colour to the olive -green colour and the colour of flesh from a white colour to pale yellow colour.
What does it mean when a fruit tree is ripe?
Two or three fruits that are ripe will drop off from the plant in a natural way which in turn indicate that the other fruit from the same tree is matured.
What is the specific gravity of a fruit?
Specific gravity: The specific gravity of the fruit can be taken as an index for the grading of maturity. Water will have a specific gravity of 1 and 2.5% of the Salt solution will have a specific gravity of 1. Both of these are used in the grading of maturity of the fruits like mango.
What are the measures of maturity of fruits and vegetables?
Some essential measures of maturity of fruits and vegetables are described in the following. 1. Fruit Color: Fruit skin or flesh color changes as the fruit matures or ripens. These changes can be determined subjectively by the harvester.
What is harvest maturity?
It is a stage that will allow fruits/vegetables at its peak condition when it reaches consumers and develop acceptable flavors or appearances and have a good shelf life.
How to determine the harvest time of a fruit?
Some fruits may change in texture during maturation, and these changes can be used to determine the harvest time. Textural changes are detected subjectively by touch or gentle squeezing. However, objective measurement can be achieved using pressure testers and texture analyzers.
How to determine the maturity of a pear?
Therefore, harvest maturity can be determined by measuring the sugar content or starch content. Usually, the sugar content is measured in total soluble solids content using a Brix hydrometer or refractometer. Starch content is measured using iodine to qualitatively determine the amount of starch. This method is used in determining the maturity of pear cultivars, whereby the fruit is cut into two and dipped into a solution containing potassium iodide and iodine.
How does maturity affect fruit?
In summary, the maturity of fruit at harvest will significantly affect their quality along the post-harvest value chain. Therefore, accurate, efficient, and effective maturity indices must be applied to ensure high quality at all levels along the value chain. It is worth noting that a single maturity index cannot predominately determine the maturity of fruits. Therefore, it is advisable to use different parameters simultaneously to improve the accuracy of the determinations. Furthermore, one maturity index cannot be applied across all cultivars of the same crop. This is because there are slight differences among the cultivars.
What is the specific gravity of mango?
e.g., the specific gravity of mango range between 1.01-1.02.
What is maturity index?
Maturity indices. Maturity indices are the sign or indication of the readiness of the commodity for harvest. Thus, it is the basis for determining harvest date.
What happens to fruits and vegetables after harvesting?
Being living organs, fruits and vegetables continue to respire even after harvesting when they have a limited source of food reserves. In addition to degradation of respiratory substrates, a number of changes in taste, colour, flavour, texture and appearance take place in the harvested commodities which make them unacceptable for consumption by the consumers if these are not handled properly. Post harvest technology starts immediately after the harvest of fruits and vegetables. The whole process of processing the commodities is categorized as Handling of fresh produce. Post harvest Technology of fresh fruits and vegetables combines the biological and environmental factors in the process of value addition of a commodity.
What is the purpose of curing vegetables?
The curing of root and tuber crops develops periderms over cut, broken or skinned surfaces wound restoration. It helps in the healing of harvest injuries, reduces loss of water and prevents the infection by decay pathogens.
How is sorting done?
Sorting is done by hand to remove the fruits which are unsuitable to market or storage due to damage by insects, diseases or mechanical injuries. The remainder crop product is separated into two or more grades on the basis of the surface colour, shape or visible defects. For eg, in an apple packing house in India 3 grades viz. Extra Fancy, Fancy and standard may be packed for marketing. The fourth “cull” grade is meant for processing. After sorting and grading, sizing is done either by hand or machine. Machine sizers work on two basic principles: weight and diameter. Sizing on the basis of fruit shape and size are most effective for spherical (Oranges, tomato, certain apple cultivars) and elongated (Delicious apples and European pears or of non-uniform shape) commodities, respectively.
What is mechanical harvest?
Mechanical harvest is currently used for fresh-market crops that are roots, tubers , or rhizomes and for nut crops. Vegetables that are grown below ground (radishes, potatoes, garlic, carrots, beets and others) are always harvested only once and the soil can be used to cushion the product from machine caused mechanical injury. Tree nuts and peanuts are protected by a shell and easily withstand mechanical handling. A number of products destined for processing such as tomatoes, wine grapes, beans, peas, prunes, peachesand some leafy green vegetables are machine harvested because harvest damage does not significantly affect the quality of processed product. This is often because the product is processed quickly after harvest. These crops have also been amenable to new production techniques and breeding that allow the crop to be better suited to mechanical harvest.
How long does it take for a sage to ripen?
It takes one year for fruiting after flowering. It is the fruit which ripen after one year of flowering. April start harvesting and may end it start in flowering.
What is the goal of harvesting?
The goals of harvesting are to gather a commodity from the field at the proper level of maturity with a minimum of damage and loss, as rapidly as possible and at a minimum cost. This is achieved through hand-harvesting in most fruit, vegetable and flower crops.
When are dwarf bananas ready to harvest?
after the attainment of 3% full stages. Dwarf banana are ready for harvest within 11-
