LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET

AGRICULTURAL CROPS PRODUCTION NC II

THIRD QUARTER
GRADE 12 – Week 1

CROP MATURITY INDICES

Introduction

The principles dictating at which stage of maturity a fruit or vegetable should be

harvested are crucial to its subsequent storage and marketable life and quality. Post-
harvest physiologists distinguish three stages in the life span of fruits and vegetables:
maturation, ripening, and senescence. 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. Senescence is
the last stage, characterized by natural degradation of the fruit or vegetable, as in loss
of texture, flavour, etc. (senescence ends at the death of the tissue of the fruit).

1. Identify crop maturity according to parameters affecting physiological growth and

physical indicators;
2. Perform determining the maturity of vegetable crops; and
3. Recognize the value of determining the maturity of vegetable crops

Directions: Choose the letter of the correct answer. Write your answers on a separate
sheet of paper.

1. What condition of the crop that is ready to harvest?

A. Harvestable
B. Maturity
C. Maturity indices
D. All of the above

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 2. What method will you use to determine the maturity of cabbage and lettuce
heads?
A. Chemical analysis
B. Computation method
C. Feel method
D. Visual method

3. Which of the following is NOT a maturity index of vegetable crops?

A. Color description
B. Computation method
C. Size
D. Weight

4. Which should not be considered in harvesting?

A. Harvest at a proper maturity
B. Harvest crop at a proper time
C. Prevent crops from injury during harvest.
D. Harvested vegetables are allowed to stay under the sun

5. How can you determine the maturity of tomatoes? It can be determined by

_______.
A. Chemical analysis
B. Computation method
C. Feel method
D. Visual method

Processing Questions:
1. Can you describe the picture all about?
2. Have seen like this in your garden?
3. What are indications can you say about the color of tomatoes?
4. What does each color signify?

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Maturity indices

Maturity is the stage at which a crop is harvestable. Maturity index is an

observable indication or sign that a particular crop is already matured or ready for
harvest. The following are the maturity indices of vegetable crops:
▪ Color
▪ Weight
▪ Shape
▪ Size
▪ Texture
▪ Composition

Maturity indices of some vegetables

Vegetables Maturity indices

Potatoes Culm should turn yellow and dry
out before harvesting. Skin should
not slip from tuber easily. Young
tubers have skin that easily
separate from tuber when rubbed.

Cabbage A mature head is compact. If the

head is depressed when pressed
with the thumb, it is immature.

Cauliflower Curd is compact and creamy-white

in color. Curds that are discolored
loose or blemished are over
matured.

Sweet corn Kernels are big and exude milky

sap when pierced. When sweet
corn is used for young cob corn
(or baby corn) it is harvested 2
days after silk appears for
processing and 3 days for the
local market.

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 Lettuce, The whole plant is harvested when
Mustard, it is well developed. Leaves are still
Pechay green and not starting to turn
yellow and tough and the flavor is
better.

Sweet pepper Fruits reach full size, firm and of

deep color.

Radish Roots are harvested when large

and firm but crispy. Pithy and
fibrous /roots are over matured.

Tomato For distant markets, fruits are

harvested green. Mature fruits are
cream, pink or yellowish green. To
verify whether or not fruits are
mature even when green, take
sample and slice it. If the seeds slip
away from the knife and the pulp is
jelly, the fruit is mature green. For
nearby market – pink color starts
to show at the bottom end (breaker
stage) or is pink to half ripe or firm
ripe.

Types of maturity

➢ Physiological maturity is a stage in the growth of a crop that marks the beginning
of aging of the tissue. It is generally referred to as ripening. This can be seen in
the general yellowing and stooping of plants as in potatoes.
➢ Commercial maturity is a stage in the development of a crop in relation to time
of harvest according to use or market demand.

Examples:
• Beans maybe harvested as young pods or dried beans.
• Pickling cucumbers are harvested very much younger than the expected
maturity.
• In peas, there are three stages of maturity.
1. green mature pods – the product desired are the tender pods.
2. tender seeds stage - the product desired are the tender seeds.
3. ripened seed stage - if the product desired are the ripened seeds which are
mainly used as seeds.

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Methods of determining maturity

The index of maturity can be subjective, objective or both and involves the following
methods:

1. Visual Method
▪ Skin color. Matured fruit losses its deep green color and develop yellow, red or
purple color.
▪ Fruit size and shape. Some vegetables will reach a certain size which can be
used as index for optimum time for harvest. The pods of peas and snap beans
for example will show prominent seed zones. The presence of abscission zones
between the stem and in some fruits like tomatoes, peas and snap beans has
also been observed to become prominent at maturity.

2. “Feel” Method. This method is done mainly by touch of the fingers with respect to
firmness, crispness and sound. For example, matured cabbage heads are
considerably firm when pressed gently with the fingers.

3. Chemical analysis. This is used mainly for fruits wherein the starch content, sugar
content, acidity and soluble solids/acid ratio are measured. High sugar content
indicates maturity, acid content in some fruits falls with maturity, thus, low acid
contents indicate maturity.

4. Physical means
▪ Use of pressure tester. This is used to measure the softness of a fruit and may
also be applied to snap beans.
▪ Specific gravity determination (floating method). This is the density of mass
divided by the density of water where the density of the mass is the weight over
its volume.

5. Computation method
▪ Days from planting to harvesting
▪ Days from flowering to harvesting

LET US REMEMBER

Vegetables should be harvested at the right stage of maturity. Some farm crops can be
harvested at any stage after the edible portion has reached a reasonable size. Maturity
indices of vegetable crops are indications that a crop is mature or ready for harvest in
terms of:
▪ Color
▪ Size
▪ Texture
▪ Shape
▪ Composition and weight
▪ Firmness

The methods of determining maturity can be:

• Visual method
• “Feel” method
• Chemical method
• Physical method
• Computation method

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Activity 1: IDENTIFY ME!

Direction: What method of determining maturity can you employ on the

following vegetable crops? Write your answer in your activity notebook.

Vegetables Maturity Indications

1. Tomato
2. Sweet or bell pepper
3. Green peas
4. Eggplant
5. Camote
6. Cauliflower
7. Cabbage
8. Ampalaya
9. Okra
10. Pechay

Activity 2: THINKING UP!

Direction: Answer the following questions concisely. Write your answer in your activity
notebook.

1. How identification of crop maturity help achieved good quality produced

vegetables?
2. How important determining the crop maturity of vegetables is?

Activity 3: PERFORMANCE TASK

Direction: Again in your own vegetable garden, determine whether or not your crops
are ready for harvest. Take down your findings. What are the proofs that
your vegetables are ready for harvest? What method of determining maturity
can you employ in your crops?
Write your findings in your activity notebook. Your output will be rated based on
the following rubrics below.

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RUBRICS:

5 4 3 2 1
Ideas/Pres Ideas hold the Ideas is Ideas are Not well Has no
entation readers mostly too broad. defined clear
attention. focused, and purpose
Relevant has some and does
details and it is good details. not suited
clear and the
focused. question
Organizatio The order, The order, The order, The order There is no
n/ structure of structure of structure of organizatio
Sentence information is information is of informati n of ideas
structure compelling and mostly informatio on is and
moves the organized n is not chaotic sentenced
reader through and sentence organized and the is poorly
the text. are mostly and sentence constructe
Sentence are structured. sentence is not d.
well structed. give easy to
confusion. read.

Multiple Choice: Write the letter only of correct answer on your activity notebook.

1. What condition of the crop that is ready to harvest?

A. Harvestable
B. Maturity
C. Maturity indices
D. All of these

2. What observable indications or signs that a crop is ready for harvesting?

A. Color
B. Composition
C. Maturity indices
D. Size and shape

3. What growth stage of a crop that marks the beginning of aging of the tissues?
A. Chemical maturity
B. Commercial maturity
C. Field maturity
D. Physiological maturity

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4. What stage in the development of a crop that refers to the relation to time of harvest
according to use or market demand?
A. Chemical maturity
B. Commercial maturity
C. Field maturity
D. Physiological maturity

5. How can maturity of tomatoes be determined?

A. Chemical analysis
B. Computation method
C. Feel method
D. Visual method

6. What method will you use to determine the maturity of cabbage and lettuce heads?
A. Chemical analysis
B. Computation method
C. Feel method
D. Visual method

7. Which of the following is NOT a maturity index of vegetable crops?

A. Color description
B. Computation method
C. Size
D. Weight

8. Which of the following is NOT a preparation prior to harvesting?

A. Harvest the crops.
B. Conduct ocular inspection.
C. Construct temporary shed.
D. Prepare harvesting tools and materials.

9. Which of the following tools is NOT used in harvesting vegetable crops?

A. Axe
B. Knife
C. Pruning shears
D. Scissors

10. Which should not be considered in harvesting?

A. Harvest at a proper maturity.
B. Harvest crop at a proper time.
C. Prevent crops from injury during harvest.
D. Harvested vegetables are allowed to stay under the sun

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Principal
LOTA B. BAUTISTA
Checked by:
Bucto National High School
SHST - III
Prepared by: RAQUEL B. GARRIDO
http://www.fao.org/3/Y4358E/y4358e05.htm
DepEd CBLM Module 6: Harvesting of Vegetable Crops pp. 1-7
IX. References
Pre-test Activity 1 Activity 2 Activity 3 Post
Identify Me! Thinking Up! Performance Test
Task
1. B 1. Color Answers may Answers may 1. B
2. C 2. Color/size vary vary 2. C
3. B 3. Color/size/texture 3. D
4. D 4. Computation/size/texture 4. B
5. D 5. Computation/size 5. D
6. Color/computation 6. C
7. Computation/size 7. B
8. Computation/size/shape 8. A
9. Color/size 9. A
10. Computation/size 10. D