Abstract
The mechanical properties of eggplant fruit (cv. Bello) harvested at physiological maturity stage were evaluated in three storage periods (3d, 6d and 9d). These mechanical parameters (rupture force, rupture energy and deformation at rupture point) were measured under quasi compression loading, using the Universal Testing Machine (Testometric model). The fruit’s toughness and rupture power were calculated from the data obtained from the rupture energy and deformation at rupture point. Results obtained showed that mechanical properties of the Bello eggplant fruit exhibited strong dependence on the storage period. The results showed that as the Bello fruit stored longer, its rupture force and rupture energy decreased from 812 N to 411 N, and 5.58 Nm to 3.11 Nm respectively. While the rupture power decreased from 1.095 W to 0.353 W. On the contrary, the toughness and deformation at rupture increased from 0.270 mJ/mm3 to 0.403 mJ/mm3, and 16.99 mm to 25.22mm respectively during the 9 days storage period. The knowledge of the mechanical properties of fruits is important for their harvest and post-harvest operations, therefore, information obtained from this study will be useful in the design and development of machines for the mechanization of eggplant production.
Highlights
Eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum L.) is one of the indigenous crops planted in Africa countries
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) result of the data obtained from this study showed that for the storage duration had significant effect (P ≤0.05) of all the mechanical parameters investigated (Table 1)
It can be clearly seen that the all parameters investigated, except deformation at rupture point and toughness, decreased monotonically with the increasing of storage time
Summary
Eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum L.) is one of the indigenous crops planted in Africa countries. The consumption of eggplant is steadily increasing because of greater awareness of the health beneficial effects associated with increased consumption of fruits and vegetables (Singh et al, 2009). The pharmacological properties of eggplant had been attributed to the presence of certain chemical substances, such as, fiber, ascorbic acid, phenols, anthocyanin, glycoalkaloids and α-chaconine in the plant (Alozie et al, 1978; Sanchez-Mata et al, 2010; Chinedu et al, 2011). When compared to other fruits, eggplant fruit has relatively high carbohydrate (7.2 g/100g), crude fibres (2.0 g/100g), calcium (28 mg/100g), iron (1.5 mg/100), carotene (0.35 mg/100g) and ascorbic acid (8 mg/100g) content (Hornal et al, 2007; Msogoya et al, 2014)
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