Articles
PREHARVEST MATURITY MONITORING OF AVOCADO BY ULTRASONIC TECHNOLOGY
Article number
562_20
Pages
181 – 186
Language
English
Abstract
A nondestructive ultrasonic system, able to determine quality-related factors in avocado fruit during the softening processes, was utilized for the maturity monitoring of preharvest avocado. Ettinger and Fuerte avocado cultivators were tested.
Six batches of the fruits were picked from marked trees in the orchard during the final months of the growing season.
Each fruit was subjected to ultrasonic measurements in which ultrasonic mechanical waves were excited in the avocado flesh, enabling the attenuation of waves to be calculated.
The fruits were then subjected to destructive physiological tests, to determine the dry-weight percentage (DW) of the avocado tissue.
The results of the nondestructive ultrasonic measurements were compared with those of the destructive physiological tests.
The changes in attenuation of the ultrasonic signal and those in DW, during the final months of the growing season, were shown to be functions of time of opposite tendencies: a monotonic decrease in attenuation and a monotonic increase in the DW. The two cultivars of avocado fruit yielded quite similar tendencies for the attenuation and the DW. Since the attenuation and the DW were both time dependent, direct relations between these two parameters were proposed, and the possible linkage might be used for DW determination of preharvest avocado fruits by means of ultrasonic nondestructive technology.
Six batches of the fruits were picked from marked trees in the orchard during the final months of the growing season.
Each fruit was subjected to ultrasonic measurements in which ultrasonic mechanical waves were excited in the avocado flesh, enabling the attenuation of waves to be calculated.
The fruits were then subjected to destructive physiological tests, to determine the dry-weight percentage (DW) of the avocado tissue.
The results of the nondestructive ultrasonic measurements were compared with those of the destructive physiological tests.
The changes in attenuation of the ultrasonic signal and those in DW, during the final months of the growing season, were shown to be functions of time of opposite tendencies: a monotonic decrease in attenuation and a monotonic increase in the DW. The two cultivars of avocado fruit yielded quite similar tendencies for the attenuation and the DW. Since the attenuation and the DW were both time dependent, direct relations between these two parameters were proposed, and the possible linkage might be used for DW determination of preharvest avocado fruits by means of ultrasonic nondestructive technology.
Authors
A. Mizrach, U. Flitsanov, R. El-Batsri, C. Degani
Keywords
Ultrasonic, nondestructive testing, maturity, quality, fruit, and avocado
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