FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

COURSE CODE : BWD 21402 POSTHARVEST TECHNOLOGY

SECTION : 1

LABORATORY REPORT : DETERMINATION OF MATURITY AND QUALITY

INDICES OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

GROUP : 2

GROUP MEMBERS :
1. NUR NAUFAL BINTI AZNAN (CW200017)
2. NURUL LIYANA BINTI MD RAFFEE (CW200016)
3. TAY HE YUAN (CW200031)
4. NUR AFIQAH BINTI SHARIMAN (CW200003)
5. NORASYIKIN BINTI JUMAATUN (DW200021)

DATE OF EXPERIMENT : 11 APRIL 2022

LECTURER NAME : DR. MUNIRA BINTI ZAINAL ABIDIN

 Determination of maturity and quality indices of fruits and vegetables
Faculty of Applied Sciences and Technology, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, KMI
Jalan Panchor, 86400 Pagoh, Muar Johor, Malaysia

Nur Naufal, Norasyikin, Tay He Yuan, Nur Afiqah, Nurul Liyana

11 April 2022

ABSTRACT

To determine a suitable maturity stage before harvesting in order to produce adequate quality
in terms of colour, flavour, size, and texture of fruits and vegetables before eating. Climacteric
crops, such as papaya, banana, apple, and tomato, can be picked after complete maturity but
before ripening, but non-climacteric crops, such as citrus, grapes, and berries, do not ripen off
the plant and should be harvested when they achieve optimal eating quality. To establish the
maturity indices of the crops prior to harvesting, the measurement should be straightforward
and may be carried out in the field. Maturity indices are used to estimate crop maturity,
anticipate harvest dates, and evaluate crop quality, such as whether the crop is appropriate for
fresh or processed markets

INTRODUCTION

Identifying the correct stage of maturity and harvesting at proper time are important pre harvest
factors. 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 leading to attainment of
the consumer for a particular purpose. Physiological maturity: When a plant or plant part will
continue ontogeny even if detached. Horticultural maturity: When a plant or plant part
possesses the prerequisites 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. The quality of vegetables can be preserved for a longer duration if it is harvested at an
appropriate stage (Kalia, 2011). For instance, in tomato, according to the use of fruits
harvesting is done at various stages depending on the purpose. Generally, the tomatoes
are harvest at mature green to turning stage for long distance marketing. For fresh local market,
pink to light red tomatoes is harvested. Depending on the purpose six maturity stages have been
recognized for the harvesting of tomato (Rana, 2014). Determining the appropriate maturity
stage before harvest is important for development appropriate quality of fruits and vegetables
before consumption, such as color, taste, size and texture. Menopausal plants, i. H. Papaya,
Banana, Apple and Tomato can be harvested when full ripe before the ripening stage, rather
than climacteric crops such as citrus, grapes and berries do not ripen from the plant and should
be harvested when they are of ideal eating quality. That measurements should be simple and
field operable to determine maturity Crop index before harvest.

MATERIAL AND METHODOLOGY

The physical characteristics of samples which are colour, size in diameter and weight were
observed and recorded. Photos of the samples were snapped. After the outside colour of all the
samples were checked then all the samples were cut in half. Followed by checking the inside
colour of the samples hence, cutting it into pieces. For the colour checking, the instrument used
was calorimeter to determine the value and refractometer to to measure colour (L,a*,b*). Next,
all the sample were placed in a muslin cloth and a drop was squeezed out onto the sensing
screen of brix instrument to determine sugar content of the samples.
RESULT

Ripeness stages of tomatoes

Figure Ripeness stage

Breaker

Figure 1 & 2: External and internal appearance of tomato A

Pink

Figure 3 & 4: External and internal appearance of tomato B

Light red

Figure 5 & 6: External and internal appearance of tomato C

Ripeness stages of bananas
Figure Ripeness stage

Light green

Figure 7 & 8: External and internal appearance of banana A

Yellow with
green at end

Figure 9 & 10: External and internal appearance of banana B

Full yellow

Figure 11 & 12: External and internal appearance of banana C

Dimension of tomatoes

Tomato A Tomato B Tomato C

(Unripe) (Partially ripe) (Fully ripe)

1 17.8 cm 17.0 cm 17.0 cm

reading 2 18.5 cm 17.4 cm 18.0 cm

3 18.5 cm 17.3 cm 18.0 cm

Mean ± SD
18.26667 ± 0.404145 17.23333 ± 0.208167 17.66667 ± 0.57735

Dimension of bananas

Banana A Banana B Banana C

(Unripe) (Partially ripe) (Fully ripe)

1 12 cm 12.1 cm 10.7 cm

reading 2 11 cm 11.9 cm 10.6 cm

3 11.3 cm 11.5 cm 10.8 cm

11.43333 ± 0.51316 11.83333 ± 0.305505 10.7 ± 0.1

Mean ± SD
Colour testing using Colorimeter

External surface of tomatoes

Tomato A Tomato B Tomato C

(Unripe) (Partially ripe) (Fully ripe)
L* 58.5 L* 60.26 L* 47.15
1 a* 18.57 a* 18.84 a* 36.61
b* 40.80 b* 37.02 b* 33.27
L* 63.22 L* 59.15 L* 48.75
reading 2 a* 4.83 a* 22.83 a* 36.10
b* 33.55 b* 38.13 b* 37.20
L* 63.41 L* 54.88 L* 49.88
3 a* 4.89 a* 25.37 a* 34.67
b* 30.27 b* 37.38 b* 36.13
L* 61.71 L* 58.09667 L* 48.59333
Mean ± SD a* 9.43 a* 22.34667 a* 35.79333
b* 34.87333 b* 37.51 b* 35.53333

External surface of bananas

Banana B (partially
Banana A (unripe) Banana C (fully ripe)
ripe)
L* 56.34 L* 71.55 L* 65.85
1 a* -7.97 a* 11.04 a* 12.36
b* 38.43 b* 52.31 b* 53.84
L* 55.90 L* 62.13 L* 68.69
reading 2 a* -8.99 a* 10.50 a* 12.11
b* 34.99 b* 40.55 b* 54.34
L* 43.20 L* 73.08 L* 61.20
3 a* -7.29 a* 10.91 a* 11.17
b* 29.46 b* 51.74 b* 51.34
L* 51.81333 L* 68.92 L* 65.24667
Mean ± SD a* -8.08333 a* 10.81667 a* 11.88
b* 34.29333 b* 48.2 b* 53.17333
Internal surface of tomatoes

Tomato B (partially
Tomato A (unripe) Tomato C (fully ripe)
ripe)
L* 32.31 L* 29.93 L* 25.33
1 a* 0.79 a* 5.12 a* 10.29
b* 13.59 b* 16.93 b* 19.60
L* 27.18 L* 16.78 L* 19.32
reading 2 a* 2.75 a* 7.21 a* 8.42
b* 15.48 b* 11.77 b* 13.49
L* 34.81 L* 11.90 L* 37.15
3 a* 1.57 a* 6.33 a* 16.39
b* 18.29 b* 11.62 b* 15.44
L* 31.43333 L* 19.53667 L* 27.26667
Mean ± SD a* 1.703333 a* 6.22 a* 11.7
b* 15.78667 b* 13.44 b* 16.17667

Internal surface of bananas

Banana A Banana B Banana C

(Unripe) (Partially ripe) (Fully ripe)
L* 33.55 L* 30.41 L* 43.05
1 a* 3.71 a* 5.41 a* 7.03
b* 17.55 b* 21.39 b* 25.18
L* 38.12 L* 34.06 L* 44.82
reading 2 a* 4.71 a* 6.78 a* 8.25
b* 20.61 b* 24.63 b* 26.98
L* 41.99 L* 31.31 L* 23.12
3 a* 4.05 a* 5.94 a* 4.12
b* 17.37 b* 22.72 b* 14.14
L* 37.88667 L* 31.92667 L* 36.99667
Mean ± SD a* 4.156667 a* 6.043333 a* 6.466667
b* 18.51 b* 22.91333 b* 22.1
Sweetness determination using refractometer

Brix percentage of tomatoes

Tomato A Tomato B Tomato C

(Unripe) (Partially ripe) (Fully ripe)

1 2.7% 6.1% 5.7%

reading 2 2.6% 5.7% 5.7%

3 2.6% 5.5% 5.7%

Mean ± SD 2.63% ± 0.000577 5.77% ± 0.003055 5.70% ± 0

Brix percentage of bananas

Banana A Banana B Banana C

(Unripe) (Partially ripe) (Fully ripe)

1 12.1% 21.2% 23.4%

reading 2 11.8% 22.6% 23.4%

3 12.8% 21.8% 23.8%

Mean ± SD 12.23% ± 0.005132 21.87% ± 0.007024 23.53% ± 0.002309

 Figure 13: Colorimeter

Figure 14: Refractometer

DISCUSSION

The maturity of fruits and vegetables also known as ripeness refer to different stages.
While maturity indices are defined as different stages of fruit development in which the fruit
has reached maximum growth and completed the ripening process (Prasad, K. & Jacob, Sanu
& Siddiqui, Mohammed, 2017). This is important as the harvested perishable products maturity
effect the shelf-life and quality of the produce as the product must met the minimum acceptable
quality for the consumer in the market after harvesting and postharvest handling which consist
of handling, transporting and marketing. It is also to prevent from the commodities from being
sold in immature or overmatured condition which indirectly affected the consumers’
confidence on the product. Moreover, the overripe produce is easily susceptible to the microbial
contamination and physiological spoilage. Harvesting at the right stage of maturity helps in
utilize a proper ripening for fruits and vegetable when it reached the market, avoid spoilage
during distant transportation and gives maximum storage life (Khanal, Amit,2018). On top of
it by knowing the maturity indices of the product, the sellers can estimate the best time and
quality to harvest and take the opportunity to sold the best quality product at a high price.

So, in this experiment a measurement to determine the maturity indices of the bananas
and tomatoes was taken either visually or by using instruments which by observing physical
characteristic of the food sample colour, diameters for size and weight to find the ripeness
stages for both tomatoes and banana and using instruments such as calorimeter and
refractometer to measure the colour and sugar content of the samples, respectively. Based on
the results of the ripeness of tomatoes and bananas through their appearance, tomato A is in
breaker stage, tomato B is in pink stage and tomato C is in light red stage. Meanwhile, banana
A is in light green ripeness stage, Banana B and C is in yellow with green at end and full yellow
stage, respectively. The colour of these produce can determine the maturity of the product as
the green colour of the fruit disappearing act as an indicator and means its reaching maturity
(Khanal, Amit,2018). Besides, the colour also shows different stages of maturity in which the
growers can choose to pick it at optimum time such as during the stages of banana B and C is
an ideal colour for retail sale while banana C is ready for sale and consumed.

Furthermore, measuring sugar content in the fruit can also stipulate a reliable index of
the fruits maturity by using refractometer or a Brix hydrometer. This is because during the
ripeness stage, the carbohydrates build up in the fruit in the form of starch is then broken down
into sugar as the fruit ripens for a climatic fruit. However, for non-climatic fruit the sugar is
accumulated as fruit sugar as the produce ripens which allows the determination of the maturity
of variety of fruits and vegetables from sugar content and determined an optimal time for them
to be harvested as it does not influence by the types of soil, fertilization nor climates (Prasad,
K. & Jacob, Sanu & Siddiqui, Mohammed, 2017).

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, sample A is yellowish orange, sample B is light red and sample C is red
in colour. For bananas, sample A is green with dark spots, sample B is in yellow with brown
spots and a little green at the ends while sample C colour is fully yellow with brown spots. This
shows that sample C which is the most red colour tomato has the highest sugar content
compared to sample A and B. Among sample A, B, and C, sample C which is fully yellow in
colour has the highest sugar content with a reading of 44.82. It is critical to examine colour
inconsistencies between a sample and a standard in an early stage in the manufacturing process.
The L value of the outside surface for sample A is 32.31. Sample A has most white colour
compare to sample B and C.a* is a red/green coordinate. From the result obtained by using
colorimeter as measurement tools in this experiment, sample C has the highest a* value with
36.61. This shows that sample C is the reddest. From the measurements taken for sample
bananas A, B and C, sample B has the highest outside value of a* with 6.78.

REFERENCE
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2. Khanal, Amit. (2018). Maturity indices of fruits and vegetable.pptx. ResearchGate;

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326398828_Maturity_indices_of_fruits_and
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3. Prasad, K. & Jacob, Sanu & Siddiqui, Mohammed. (2017). Fruit Maturity, Harvesting,
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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319273746_Fruit_Maturity_Harvesting_and
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