Texture Profile of Ripening Pears

TLDR

Pears of the Ovid variety were harvested at normal maturity, ripened at 70 °F, and their texture was monitored over time using the Magness‑Taylor pressure test and a modified General Foods Texture Profile. During ripening, adhesiveness was zero, viscosity could not be measured, and hardness, cohesiveness, elasticity, brittleness, chewiness, and gumminess all declined at a similar rate to the pressure test, indicating that a simple puncture test can effectively capture pear textural quality.

Abstract

SUMMARY— Pears of the Ovid variety were harvested at the normal stage of maturity, and ripened in a 70°F storage room. Samples of the fruit were taken out at regular intervals for texture measurements which consisted of the Magness‐Taylor pressure test and a modified General Foods Texture Profile. The adhesiveness of the pears was zero. The viscosity of the whole fruit could not be measured. All other parameters of the G. F. Texture Profile (hardness, cohesiveness, elasticity, brittleness, chewiness, and gumminess) decreased during ripening at approximately the same rate as the pressure test. It is suggested that this characteristic of ripening pears is responsible for the success of a simple single measurement (the puncture test) for measuring the complex phenomenon that is called “textural quality” of pears.