Some maturity indices for tamarillo and pepino fruits

Abstract

SummaryColour, firmness, juice content and °Brix levels were identified as maturity indices for tamarillo and pepino. The fruits were classified into three stages of maturity on the basis of colour. There were green (immature), purple (mature) and red (ripe) for tamarillos, and green (immature), pale-green (mature) and golden-yellow (ripe) for pepinos which corresponded with the stages at which they might be used for cooking, in salad or as dessert respectively. Purple tamarillos were considered to be at optimum maturity for harvesting and marketing when purple, because they then continued to ripen after harvest and became softer and juicier. Pepinos failed to exhibit similar changes but they were best for dessert when golden-yellow with a firmness as resistance to pressure of 2 kg cm-2, a minimum of 40% juice and 9 °Brix. Post-harvest dipping in ethephon increased the colour, °Brix and improved the flavour of both fruits, but enhanced the production of CO2 and ethylene in pepinos only.