Impact of maturity on mechanical and textural properties and rheological properties modeling of wood apple fruit (Limonia acidissima)

Abstract

AbstractWood apple (Limonia acidissima) is monsoonal fruit comprising of pulp with an exterior hard shell. The investigation of mechanical and textural properties according to maturity stages (unripe, semi‐ripe, and ripe) and rheological modeling of ripe fruits is beneficial for post‐harvest maturity grader and processing equipment development. The compression mechanical properties of whole fruit at maturity stages along the x‐axis, y‐axis, and z‐axis orientations recorded minimum rupture force (962.73 N) for ripe fruits followed by semi‐ripe and unripe along z‐axis and maximum force (2,256.2 N) for unripe fruits along y‐axis. The pulp puncture test at maturity stages for textural properties recorded reduced hardness value with maturity having 12.84, 4.30, and 3.88 N for unripe, semi‐ripe, and ripe fruits, respectively. The rheological properties for ripe fruits pulp validated cross and Carreau‐Yasuda best‐fit models (R2 = 0.9) for steady shear indicating non‐Newtonian, shear‐thinning behavior as viscosity (η) reduced from 1,508.45 Pa s while dynamic shear for frequency sweep test indicated elastic behavior as storage modulus G′ > loss modulus G″ and tan δ < 1 for power model (R2 = 0.9). The mechanical and textural properties of wood apple exhibited significant variance according to the maturity of the fruit.Practical ApplicationsWood apple, despite being underutilized in the global fruit trade, has vast application in nutraceuticals industries. The steady shear flow properties of wood apple pulp can be used in engineering design applications such as manufacturing, packaging, and storage; they can be utilized to determine flow parameters and predict the degree of structural breakdown with shear. Because of the numerous processing systems in use, it is essential to precisely forecast rheological behavior. Oscillatory experiments of wood apple pulp can be used to study pulp structure, the strength of pulp and dependency on the shear rate of pulp. The findings of this study will substantially assist food processing industries in producing wood apple pulp‐based products.