Harvest date affects colour and soluble solids concentrations (SSC) of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Uapaca kirkiana</Emphasis> (Muell. Arg.) fruits from natural woodlands |
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| Authors: | I Kadzere C B Watkins I A Merwin F K Akinnifesi J D K Saka |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Horticulture, Cornell University, New York, NY 14853, USA;(2) SADC-ICRAF Agroforestry Programme, Chitedze Agricultural Research Station, P.O. Box 30798, Lilongwe 3, Malawi;(3) Chemistry Department, Chancellor College, University of Malawi, Box 280, Zomba, Malawi;(4) Present address: Department of Agricultural Research & Extension Services (AREX), Box CY 594, Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe |
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| Abstract: | Uapaca kirkiana (Muell. Arg.) is a woodland fruit tree that is native to parts of eastern, central and southern Africa. Unripe fruits are
harvested from wild and semi-wild sources by dislodging them from trees. Ripe fruits are gathered from the ground after abscission.
Utilization of the fruits is affected by problems such as variability of fruit quality and high perishability. Quality attributes
of fruits harvested on 1 and 17 November, and 3 December 2003 and kept at 25–30°C, have been evaluated. On the second and
third harvests, fruits were also stored in polythene bags to investigate a common incubation method to hasten ripening. Fruit
weight and colour before and after ripening, and the soluble solids concentrations (SSC) of ripe fruits were measured. The
redness (a*) values at harvest increased from 3.5 to 5.3 units from 1 November to 3 December. Over this period there was a
significant decline in both lightness (L*; 63.8 to 58.9 units) and yellowness (b*, 39.6 to 36.4 units). Skin colour became
darker during storage as reflected by the decreasing lightness (L* values from 63.8 to 44.5 units), yellowness (b* values
from 36.6 to 20.1 units) and increasing redness (a* values from 3.5 to 8.8 units). Fruits harvested on 17 November and 3 December
did not darken during storage as much as fruits harvested on 1 November. Fruits harvested on 3 December lost less weight (13.7%)
during storage than those harvested on 1 November (34.0%), while the respective SSC measured 6 days after harvest were 18.1%
and 9.9%. Fruits kept in polythene bags had 5.3% lower SSC than those kept on plates. The results demonstrate the benefits
of delaying fruit harvest to improve quality attributes such as fruit skin colour at harvest and during storage, to reduce
weight loss and to obtain higher SSC during storage. |
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| Keywords: | Indigenous fruit Fruit ripening Post-harvest skin colour Weight loss |
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