STANDARDIZATION OF MATURITY INDICES OF ´KEW´ PINEAPPLE

The Northeastern region of India produces more than 40 per cent of the total pineapple of the country and almost 90-95 per cent is organic.
The ‘Kew’ is the most promising cultivar in this region having good quality attributes.
A considerable quantity of the produce is lost during handling and transportation due to lack of knowledge of the producer about the proper stage of harvesting.
Moreover, appropriate maturity indices are not known for this variety.
Therefore, standardization of maturity indices of this variety is required to reduce the postharvest losses as well as to maintain quality of the harvested produce.
Experimental findings revealed that fruit harvested during 146-150 days after flowering (1/2 color development stage) was found to be the right stage of harvesting pineapple.
However, the fruit may also be harvested during 141-145 days after flowering (1/4 color development stage). Days after flowering (146-150), specific gravity (0.93-0.98), respiration rate (7-10 mg/kg/hr.), TSS (18-19 °Brix), acidity (0.77-0.83%) and TSS: acid ratio (23-25) might be considered as suggested indices for harvesting ‘Kew’ pineapple at the right stage for local as well as distant markets during November-December.

V International Postharvest Symposium

B.C. Deka, J. Saikia, S. Sharma

specific gravity, respiration, ethylene, TSS, sugars, bromelein, PPO

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2005.682.302