Abstract
Fruit and vegetable maturity at harvest influences transportation and storage requirements as well as market value. However, small scale farmers in Uganda lack technologies for maturity assessment leading to high pre- and post-harvest losses and low financial returns from fruit and vegetable farms. This study, therefore, assessed the development of fruits (pineapple, passion fruit, watermelon) and vegetables (cabbage, egg plant, pumpkin and tomato), determined optimal maturity indices and fabricated and tested nondestructive tools for maturity assessment. Propagation trials and testing of tools were undertaken at Nangabo and Kangulumira sub counties in central Uganda. The findings show that eggplant, passion fruit, pineapple and pumpkin underwent 3 distinct development stages during which their diameter, length and outer colour changed. Cabbage remained green, but its bulb diameter and length varied with maturity. Watermelon had 4 development stages with significant (P≤0.05) changes in morphology and outer colour. Tomato fruits had 6 distinct outer colour changes. Age and colour were maturity indices for passion fruit. Fruit age and diameter were the maturity indices for watermelon. Age, diameter, length and colour were the maturity indices for pineapple, tomato and eggplant. Cabbage and pumpkin share indices including: age, diameter and length. A farm record book (FRB) was designed for documenting phenology and maturity stages of studied fruits and vegetables. A calibrated calliper (CC) and Calibrated tape (CT) were fabricated for assessing the morphological development in pineapple, tomato, eggplant, cabbage, pumpkin and watermelon. Customized colour charts (CCC) were designed for monitoring colour changes as passion fruits, pineapples, tomatoes and eggplants mature. On-farm trials show that CCCs were the most effective tools for monitoring passion fruit (80%), pineapple (64%), tomato (60%), eggplant (68%). Similar studies involving several cultivars and maturity determination tools are, therefore, recommended. Key words: Fruit, Kangulumira, maturity index, maturity determination tools, Nangabo, vegetable.
Highlights
Fruits and vegetables should be harvested with precision to ensure that their maturity meets or exceeds the minimum level acceptable to the consumer at the time they are consumed (Reid, 2002)
According to Okiror et al (2017b), development and use of non-destructive tools for monitoring the maturity of fruit and vegetable is a critical intervention towards determining optimal harvest time and minimizing pre-and postharvest losses
Three distinct development stages were observed for passion fruit during which its morphology and outer colour changed (Table 2)
Summary
Fruits and vegetables should be harvested with precision to ensure that their maturity meets or exceeds the minimum level acceptable to the consumer at the time they are consumed (Reid, 2002). According to Okiror et al (2017b), development and use of non-destructive tools for monitoring the maturity of fruit and vegetable is a critical intervention towards determining optimal harvest time and minimizing pre-and postharvest losses. This is so because the maturity level at harvest is vital to the development of good flavor and taste quality in the fruit when fully ripe (Dadzie and Orchard, 1997). Xudong et al (2009) assert that fruit and vegetable maturity influences market value, transportation and storage requirements It is important for individuals harvesting fruit to have effective methods of determining maturity (Kader and Mitcham, 2008). Other destructive tools including laboratory determination of total soluble solids, total titrable acidity, starch content, moisture content and protein content were designed and evaluated for commercial manufacturers (Slaughter, 2009; AOAC, 2000)
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