NIR assessment of soluble solids and firmness for pears of different cultivars

Abstract

Development of nondestructive measurements of soluble solids and firmness, which are two important ripeness and quality attributes of fruits, benefits the producers, processors and packers. The objective of this research was to evaluate the use of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy in detecting soluble solid content (SSC) and firmness for pears of three cultivars 'Cuiguan', 'Xueqing' and 'Xizilv' (n=160 of each cultivar). Relationships between nondestructive NIR spectral measurements and firmness and SSC of pear fruits were established by partial least square regression (PLSR) method. Models were developed for each cultivar, every two cultivars, and for all three cultivars in the spectral range of 800-2500 nm. The results of the models for all three cultivars turned out the best. For SSC assessment: correlation coefficients of calibration (r_cal), root mean standard errors of calibration (RMSEC) and root mean standard errors of prediction (RMSEP) were 0.93, 0.35 °Brix and 0.50 °Brix for all three cultivars, respectively. For firmness assessment: rcal, RMSEC and RMSEP were0.92, 2.29 N, 2.95 N for all three cultivars, respectively. The results indicate that NIR spectroscopy can be used for predicting SSC and firmness of pear fruit and are the basis for the development of NIR analyzer suitable for on line application.