MATURITY AND HARVESTING

Mantana BUANONG
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. To identify maturity and harvesting of horticultural
produce.
2. To understand how quality depends on the maturity
indices of horticultural produce.
3. To enumerate how to determine the quality of
horticultural produce.

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https://pluspng.com/healthy-food-png-hd-7656.html
• At early stages during development, the fruit tissue
undergoes several rounds of cell division, followed by cell
expansion during which the fruit stores metabolites and
energy, in the form of starch or sugars (e.g. tomato
development.

• After the seeds mature, the fruit undergoes a series of

biochemical changes that convert starches into more
available and attractive compounds, such as sugars, as
well as producing volatile secondary metabolites that are
thought to function as attractants for animals or insects
which disperse the seed.

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Apple fruit development.
Apple fruit at various
stages of development.
A, 0 DAA, B, 14 DAA, C,
35 DAA, D, 60 DAA, E, 87
DAA, F, 132 DAA, G, 146
DAA. H, diagram of fruit
development showing
the timing of major
physiological events.
Ripening is shown as a
solid and dashed red,
solid from the time of the
climacteric and dashed
for events prior to the
climacteric. Bar = 1 cm.

4
 MATURITY
§ Maturity is the stage where any organ or part of the
plant will have complete growth and also
development. Therefore, this is the stage for the
development of fruit after which there would be no
growth further.
§ After an organ gets matured, it will start the stage of
declining which can also be called ripening.

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 MATURITY
§ Maturity is the process for the determination of the
perfect moment or stage to pick up the crop.
§ The moment of stage at which the harvest of the
crops is done is an important factor for good quality.
PERFECT QUALITY CAN BE ATTAINED
WHEN THE HARVEST IS DONE AT A
PERFECT STAGE OF MATURITY!!!

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 MATURITY
§ Early harvesting will give fruits and vegetables a
long lifetime to get ripened and if harvesting at a
late maturity, then there would be a fewer days
needed for the ripening of fruits.
§ As the value of fruits and vegetables in the
market is completely dependent on the quality
of produce, knowing about indices of maturity at
the correct stage of harvest will have great
importance.

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 MATURITY
Maturity can be described as the attainment of the
particular size or stage after which ripening takes place.
Maturity indices/ harvesting indices
The quality of fruits and vegetable cannot be improved
but it can present when harvesting is done at proper
stage of maturity. Immature fruits when harvested will
give poor quality and erratic ripening.

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PHYSIOLOGICAL MATURITY
A stage at which commodity has reached a sufficient
stage of development that after harvesting and
postharvest handling (including ripening, where
required), its quality will be at least the minimum
acceptable to the consumers (Kader, 1985).

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HORTICULTURAL MATURITY
A stage of development when a plant possesses the
quality prerequisites for utilization by consumers for a
particular purpose or market requirement.
Commodity can be horticulturally mature at any stage
of development or physiological maturity.

Sprouts or seedling are horticulturally mature in the early

stage of development, whereas most vegetative
tissues, flowers , fruits and underground storage organs
mature in the mid-stage, and seeds, nuts mature in the
late stage of development.

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COMMERCIAL MATURITY
A stage of fruit and vegetable at which consumers
want the fruit and vegetable required by market,
depend on the purpose for which it is harvested.

Commodity can be horticulturally mature at any stage

of development or physiological maturity.

http://postharvest.ucdavis.edu/Commodity_Resources/Fact_Sheets/D
11
atastores/Fruit_English/?uid=23&ds=798
 MATURITY
§ The indices of maturity are also termed as
STANDARD OF MATURITY or MATURITY SIGNS.
Signs of maturity would be of great help in the
judgement of fruits and vegetables maturity.

Developmental continuum of banana fruits from floral primordial initiation to senescence.

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Use of maturity traits to identify optimal harvestable maturity of banana Musa AAB cv. “Embul” in dry zone of Sri Lanka
https://doi.org/10.1515/opag-2021-0015
MATURATION AND MATURITY INDICES

o Maturity indices = harvest indices.

o Sensory and nutritional quality.
o Use – Fresh market or processed.
o Adequate shelf life.
o Facilitate marketing – standards.
o Productivity – yield at harvest
and use.

Color index of mangosteen

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MATURATION AND MATURITY INDICES

Watada et al., 1985

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WHAT IS A MATURITY INDEX?
Maturity indices are internationally accepted and
regulated quality standards and measurements
used by producers, handlers and quality control
personnel to assess/determine maturity of
horticultural produce.

An ideal maturity should be:

§ Simple
§ Readily performed in the field or orchard
§ Relatively inexpensive equipment required
§ Objective not subjective
§ Consistent to the quality and postharvest life of
produce
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PRACTICAL USES OF MATURITY INDICES

o Export markets often include a guide for

minimum and maximum maturity that is
acceptable for a given commodity.

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PRACTICAL USES OF MATURITY INDICES
Marketing strategies to obtain premium prices for
commodities “supply and demand” delaying or
expediting harvesting and shipping of a particular
crop at the beginning or end of the season requires
a measure of maturity if quality is to be maintained.

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PRACTICAL USES OF MATURITY INDICES
Efficient use of labor. A measure maturity is
important for organizing start and end dates for
harvesting to ensure labor and equipment
availability and reduce harvesting costs.

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MATURITY DETERMINATION
1. COMPUTATION
Calculation of days from planting, flowering, or heat units
(peas, maize etc.). Chronological indices are not always
perfect but they permit a degree of planning.

Transition in the external coloring of

the pericarp of pitaya fruits. DAA,
days after anthesis.
One of the criteria used in determining the
Stage of plum flower harvest point is number of days of anthesis until
development full development of the fruit (Warrington et al.,
1999; Lemos et al., 2018).
19
https://doi.org/10.17584/rcch.2020v14i1.8422
 https://doi.org/10.3390/app11167303

Fruit growth and development were observed from the female

inflorescence bracts opened (full bloom) until fully mature stage (0- 17
weeks fruits).
§ Pulp colour changed from white to yellow at week 13-14 and pulp
colour developed with maturity advanced.
§ The starch accumulation of pulp started at 9 weeks after full bloom,
but in seed (storage tissue) started at 10 weeks after full bloom.
§ Harvesting period of jackfruit fruit was15-17 weeks after full bloom.
§ The best eating quality after ripening of jack fruit is at 16 weeks after
full bloom.
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2. VISUALLY
Based on physical attributes of the commodity e.g. peel
color, size, shape and texture, abscission, gloss,
presence/absence of defects.

Visual aspect of representative Maradol papaya https://www.brookstropicals.com/all-about-papayas/tips-

fruit at each maturity stage. G: green skin without papayas/is-it-ripe/

yellow stripe; 1: green skin with light yellow stripe; 2:

green skin with well defined yellow stripe; 3: one or
more orange-colored stripes in skin; 4: clearly
orange-colored skin with some light green areas; 5:
characteristic orange-colored skin of Maradol
papaya; 6: fruit color similar to stage 5, but more
intense. 21
Basulto, Felipe Santamaría et al. “POSTHARVEST RIPENING AND MATURITY INDICES FOR MARADOL PAPAYA.” Interciencia 34 (2009): 583-588.
SKIN/PEEL COLOR
Skin color changes as fruit ripens or matures and thus it is
regarded as a quality index.

o Peel color is also used for grading in many countries

before storage or marketing. Assessment of harvest
maturity by skin color depends on the judgment and
experience of the harvester.

o Light transmission properties can be used to measure the

reduction in chlorophyll content during maturation and
ripening and development of color pigments at harvest
maturity.

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Fruits are allowed to pass through a camera unit, where
camera takes 27–50 snaps of individual fruits, process it
through CPU, and then put in a color range say above 70 %
color, 60–70 % color, etc. One such grader based on optical
method is GREEFA widely used for apple grading all over the
world.

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file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/9783319211961-c1.pdf
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25
SIZE
o Change in the size of any fruit or vegetable crop while
growing is frequently used to determine harvest maturity
and quality.
o Size increases as any fresh produce approaches towards
maturity.

Guava fruit should be harvested after

file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/9783319211961-c1.pdf physiological maturity and before ripening
completely (14 weeks) to ensure that the
nutritional value of the fruit is maintained during 26
storage. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9900-4954
DEVELOPMENT OF AN ABSCISSION LAYER

As part of the natural development of

a fruit, an abscission layer is formed in
the fruit stalk. Harvesting is done after
development of abscission layer.
Harvesting before the abscission layer
has fully developed results in inferior
quality fruit, compared to those left on
the vine till abscission layer27 is
developed.
DEVELOPMENT OF AN ABSCISSION LAYER IN CANTALOUPES

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 Tip opening in asparagus Maturity stages in mangosteen
(Wongs-Aree and Noijinda, 2014)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780124081376000
107

Fruit growth and whole ripe fruit

http://postharvest.ucdavis.edu/Commodity_Resources/Fact_Sheets/D
of durian (Wisutiamongkol et al., 2017)
atastores/Vegetables_English/?uid=2&ds=799

Color development in strawberry

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3. RESONANCE
Sound when tapped e.g. dull sound in
watermelons.

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4. CHEMICAL DETERMINATION
Measurement of sugar in grapes, acids in oranges,
oil in avocado and starch in apples.

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 Freiman et al., 2012
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304423812000167

5. PHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGES

Maturation is associated with changes in their

physiology as seen by changing pattern of
respiration, aroma or odor in fruits.

Classification of some fruits according to their respiratory behavior

during ripening. 32
http://www.morgancargo.com/industry-verticals/perishable-cargo/fruits-vegetables/
Fruit shape, size, color,
carotenoids and chlorophylls
in Newhall and Cara Cara
oranges. (A) External and
internal colors of Newhall and
Cara Cara fruits during
development and ripening at
different stages (S1– S8). Bar,
2 cm. (B) Changes in peel
CCI (citrus colour index), fruit
size (transverse diameter),
content of flesh total
carotenoids and flesh
chlorophylls during fruit
development and ripening in
Newhall and Cara Cara
oranges.

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MATURITY INDICES FOR SOME CROPS (kader, 2002)

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PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Shape: some crops are harvested when reaching a
certain shape. Banana (3/4 full, full ¾ and round
full).

Changes in appearance and size of banana

(Musa spp. AAA) fruits during development 35
and ripening, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23010243.
Solidity: head lettuce and cabbage are harvested
on the basis of the solidity of the head.

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 MATURITY STAGES OF
ICEBERG & ROMAINE
LETTUCE (Gil et al. / Stewart Postharvest
Review 2012, 1:1)

§ 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.
§ Maturity is based on size in Belgian endive, cabbage, endive,
iceberg lettuce, radicchio, spinach and Swiss chard and on
head compactness in cabbage and iceberg lettuce.
§ In general, a compact head that can be compressed with
moderate hand pressure is considered ideal maturity. 37
Texture: firmness (apples, pears, peaches) used to
determine harvest date and to evaluate quality.
: tenderness are measured tenderometer
(peas).

Peach fruits of white-fleshed mutant ‘Redhaven Bianca’ RHB (A) and

yellow-fleshed ‘Redhaven’ RH (B). Bar length (in cm): S1, 3; S2, 3.5; S3, 5;
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Br, 6; S4, 7.
TYPES OF MATURITY INDICES
Age-related
1. Number of days from planting to maturity.
2. Days from full bloom to harvest.

: Radish, pears and apples

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40
Avocados
The postharvest
quality and storage
life of fruit appear to
be controlled by the
maturity. If the fruit
are harvested at a
proper stage of the
maturity, the quality
of fruit is exellent.

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The quality of fruits and vegetable cannot be
improved but it can be presented when harvesting
is done at proper stage of maturity.

Papaya fruit expansion and ripening stages for candidate gene expression analysis. A,
Color development in fruit flesh of SunUp (top row) and Kapoho (bottom row). B, Expansion
size (ES) of developing papaya fruit compared with mature fruit. C, Fruit ripening stages
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based on change in fruit skin color.
Fruits picked either too early or too late in their
season are more susceptible to postharvest
physiological disorders than fruit picked at the
proper maturity stage.

Different ripening stages and color chart for Alphonso and Banganapalli
mangoes. 43
Maturity at harvest is the most important factor that
determines storage life and final fruit quality.

Immature fruits are more subject to shriveling and

mechanical damage, and are of inferior flavor
quality when ripe.

Overripe fruits are likely to become soft.

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If picked too early, Honeycrisp will get bitter pit. If picked too
late, senescent breakdown will occur. In storage, the cultivar
is prone to soft scald and soggy breakdown, or low
temperature breakdown. Honeycrisp is also a multi-pick
cultivar, which complicates pack-out. 45
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
1. Soluble solids/ sugars – apple, pears, stone fruit,
grape.
https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/HYG-1434-11

Berry growth (percent of final weight)

and sugar accumulation (Brix) in
Cabernet franc from fruit set to harvest.
Note the three distinctive stages (I, II, and
III) of the double sigmoid pattern and the
rapid accumulation of sugar at the end 46
of stage II.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
2. Acid: sugar/acid ratio – citrus, pomegranates,
kiwifruit

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48
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CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
3. Juice content – citrus fruits.

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CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
4. Percent dry weight – avocado.

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CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
5. Astringency – persimmon, dates – low level
desirable.

(A) Different fruiting stages of date palm according to DPP (days post-pollination) showing
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Khalal, Rutab and Tamr, the three edible stages of the fruit (Al-Mssallem et al. 2013).
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
6. Ethylene production – apples, pears, figs etc.

Freiman et al., 2012

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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304423812000167
 HARVESTING OF HORTICULTURAL CROPS

To gather a commodity from

the field at the proper level of
maturity, with the minimum of
damage and loss, as rapidly as
possible at a minimum cost.

Objectives of harvesting
q To harvest a good quality crop in good
condition.
q To keep the harvested produce in good
condition until it is sold or consumes.
q To dispose of the crop to a buyer or though a
market as soon as possible. 54
HARVESTING CONSIDERATIONS

q Avoid high temperatures, harvest during the coolest part

of the day (early morning or late afternoon).

Mango and orange: harvest between 09.00 am

and 15.00 pm when the sap and latex flow is low.
Remove the field heat by washing.

q Do not harvest produce when it is wet from dew or rain.

Wet produce will overheat if do not well ventilated
resulting in decay or damage.

Oil spotting and rind breakdown in some citrus.

Harvest during dry weather.
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HARVESTING CONSIDERATIONS

q Protect harvested produce in the field by putting it under

open-sided when transport is not immediately available.
Produce exposed to direct sunlight will get very hot.

q Minimize mechanical injury by using clippers, knives,

twisting the stalks or using padded basket and gloves in
soft fruit harvesting to reduce injury.
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HARVESTING CONSIDERATIONS

§ Minimize latex injury in

mango, reduces
storability and quality.

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HARVESTING CONSIDERATIONS

§ Minimize contact with

soil.

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HARVESTING SYSTEMS

Hand harvesting: require a minimum of capital investment.

disadvantages:
o Labor management skilled are needed.
o Labor supply can be a problem for farmers who cannot
offer a long employment season.
o Labor strikes can be very costly during the harvest period.
o Compliance with government labor regulations.

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HAND HARVESTING

Advantages:
o Accurate – human can accurately select for maturity,
allowing accurate grading and multiple harvest.
o Minimize damage – humans can handle fruit with a
minimum of damage.
o Rate of harvest can be easily increased by hiring more
workers.

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HARVESTING METHODS
Different kinds of fruit and vegetables require different
methods after harvesting.
1. Manual harvesting
2. Mechanical harvesting

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MANUAL HARVESTING
Harvesting by one’s own hand is called
manual harvesting.
o Ladder/ bag picking method.
o Poles/ Clippers method.
o Cutting knives.
o Digging tools.

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63
THE HARVESTING OPERATION INCLUDE:
§ Identification and judging the maturity of fruits.
§ Selection of mature fruits.
§ Detachment or separation of the fruit from tree.
§ Collection of matures fruits.

64
MECHANICAL HARVESTING

Numbers of mechanical devices are used for harvesting the

produce on commercial scale.
Disadvantages:
o Effective use of mechanical harvesting equipment
requires many skills compared to hand harvesting.
o Inefficient and incorrect use of harvesting machinery
results in costly damage to the equipment.
o Damage to perennial crops (e.g. damage to bark from a
tree shaker).
o Lack of processing and handling capacity to handle the
high rate of harvest.
o Technological obsolescence before equipment is paid
for.
o Social impacts of low labor requirement.
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MECHANICAL HARVESTING

Advantages:
o Potential for rapid harvest.
o Improved conditions for workers.
o Reduced problems associated with hiring and
managing hand labor.

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HARVESTING METHODS
Root and tuber crops: easier to earth up if grown on raised
beds/mounds as in potatoes, where digging tools loosen soil
without damaging produce.

For root crops, digging tools can be leveled at an angle,

lifting the crops upward.

67
HARVESTING METHODS
Vegetables: leaves only (spinach, rape) and lateral buds
(brussels sprouts) snap stem off by hand. Above ground
vegetables (cabbage, lettuce), cut off main stem with a
heavy knife and trim off excess leaves in the field. Don’t
place cut stem on the soil.

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HARVESTING METHODS
Bulbs (Green onions, leeks, mature onion): immature green
onion, pull from soil by hand.
Leeks, garlic, mature onion loosen using digging fork then lift
by hand.

69
HARVESTING METHODS
Flower structure (broccoli, cauliflower): cut off with a sharp
knife and trim in the field. Broccoli snap off by hand and
trim.

Mature flower heads (squash, chayote, pumpkin) puck

mature flowers by hand or whole shoot-bearing flowers are
harvested as a vegetable.

70
HARVESTING METHODS
Fruit: legume pods have a natural break-point of the fruit
stalk at harvest. Immature or unripe stage difficult to break
without causing damage to plant/produce, thus use
clippers, secateurs or sharp knives.

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HARVESTING AND FIELD CONTAINERS
• Packing produce directly into marketing packages at
harvesting reduces damage caused by multiple handling
and is mostly practiced commercially.
• Harvesting bags with shoulder/waist slings – firm skinned
fruits (citrus, avocado).
• Plastic buckets/containers for harvesting delicate fruits
(tomatoes).
• Basket can be used, but they have sharp
edges/projections which can easily injure produce.
• Bulk bins (250-500kg capacity) – used commercially for
crop such as apples, cabbages aimed for large scale
packing houses for selection, grading and packing.

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 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Method of evaluating quality
Factor affecting composition and quality of horticultural
crops are:

q Genetic factors – selection of cultivars, root stock.

73
 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Method of evaluating quality
Factor affecting composition and quality of horticultural
crops are:

q Pre-harvest environmental factor – climatic, cultural

conditions (soil type, nutrient and water supply, mulching,
pruning, thinning, agricultural chemicals, time and
methods of harvest.

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 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Method of evaluating quality
Factor affecting composition and quality of horticultural
crops are:

q Harvesting stage – maturity, ripeness, physiological age.

Major quality attributes of fresh

fruits and vegetables
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4041/b1326e7bdbc85fb96c5c740e
1dcf39ffd8b1.pdf

75
 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Method of evaluating quality
Factor affecting composition and quality of horticultural
crops are:

q Postharvest treatments – environmental factors

(temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric
composition), handling method, duration between
harvesting and consumption.

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 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Appearance quality (Visual)
1. Size – Cabbage, tomato, potato
o Dimensions: measure with sizing rings, calipers
o Weight: correlation is generally good between size and
weight. Size can also be expressed as number of units of
commodity per unit of weight.
o Volume: determined by water displacement or by
calculation from measured dimension.

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 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Appearance quality (Visual)
2. Shape – carrots, bananas, potatoes, sweet potatoes
o Ratio of dimension such as diameter/depth ratio is used as
indices of shape in fruit.

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 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Appearance quality (Visual)
3. Color – oranges, tomato, watermelon (internal), mango.
o Uniformity and intensity are important appearance
quality.
o Visual matching – color charts, guide and dictionaries to
match and describe color of fruit and vegetable.

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80
 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Appearance quality (Visual)
3. Color – oranges, tomato, watermelon (internal), mango.
o Light reflectance meter – measure color on the basis of
amount of light reflected from surface of the commodity
e.g. Gardner and hunter color difference meters
(tristimulus colorimeters) and Agtron E5W
spectrophotometer.

81
 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Appearance quality (Visual)
3. Color – oranges, tomato, watermelon (internal), mango.
o Light transmission meter – measures the amount of light
transmitted through the commodity and maybe used to
determine internal color and various disorder such as
water core of apple and black heart of potatoes

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 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Appearance quality (Visual)
3. Color – oranges, tomato, watermelon (internal), mango.
o Determination of pigment content – evaluates the color
of horticultural crops by pigment content i.e. chlorophylls,
carotenoids (carotene, lycopene, xanthophyll) and
flavonoid (anthocyanin).
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2016.01338/full

(A) ‘Furongli’ plums at 105, 115, 125, and 135 days after flowering (DAF). (B) Anthocyanin
83
content in plums at different ripening stages.
 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Appearance quality (Visual)
4. Gloss – watermelons, oranges.
Wax platelets – amount, structure and arrangement on the
fruit surface affect gloss quality, measured by a Gloss-meter
or by visual evaluation.

84
 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Appearance quality (Visual)
5. Presence of defects (external and internal)
o External quality – absence of wounds, scarring, pest
burrow, bruise (physical/mechanical damage) links with
good quality.

85
 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Appearance quality (Visual)
5. Presence of defects (external and internal)
o Internal quality – color uniformity in watermelons, seed
germination.

86
 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Texture quality
1. Yield quality (firmness, softness).
o Hand-held testers – determine penetration force using
testers such as Magness taylor pressure tester and Effegi
penetrometer.

87
 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Texture quality
1. Yield quality (firmness, softness).
o Laboratory testing – fruit firmness can be determined by
measuring penetration force using Texture testing system
or Deformation tester.

88
 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Texture quality
2. Fibrousness and toughness
o Measurement on the basis of shear force determination
using Instron or Texture testing system.

89
 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Texture quality
3. Succulence or juiciness
o Measurement of water content – indicates juiciness or
turgidity.
o Measurement of extractable juice – indicates juiciness

4. Sensory textural qualities

o Sensory evaluation procedures – evaluate grittiness,
crispiness, chewiness etc.

90
 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Flavor quality
1. Sweetness
o Sugar content is determined by chemical analysis for total
and reducing sugar or individual sugars.
o Total soluble solids content – use refractometer to indicate
sweetness.
Grape maturity

91
 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Flavor quality
2. Sourness (acidity)
o pH of extracted juice – using pH meter/ indicator paper
o Total titratable acidity – by titration, then calculation of
citric, malic or tartaric acids.

92
 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Flavor quality
3. Astringency
o Astringency is determined by taste testing or
measurement of tannin content, solubility and degree of
polymerization.

93
 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Flavor quality
6. Aroma (odor)
o Odor is determined by sensory panels in combination with
identification of volatile components responsible for
specific aroma of a commodity using Gas
chromatography mass spectrophotometer (GCMS).

94
 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Flavor quality
6. Sensory evaluation
o Human subjects – judge and measure combined sensory
characteristics (sweetness, sourness, astringency, overall
flavor intensity) of a commodity.
o Laboratory panels – detect and describe differences
among samples which volatile compounds are
organoleptically important in a commodity.
o Consumer panels –indicate consumer preferences.

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96
 HORTICULTURAL CROP QUALITY
4
DETERMINATION
Flavor quality
7. Nutritional value
o Various analytical methods are available to determine
fiber, proteins, amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, mineral
in commodities.

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

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