Articles
GROWTH INFLUENCES ON QUALITY OF SQUASH FRUIT
Article number
694_66
Pages
405 – 410
Language
English
Abstract
Squash fruit can have poor storage life, caused by a combination of pre-harvest growth conditions and harvesting of over-mature fruit.
Definitions of maturity are still uncertain, and methods of measuring maturity differ among growers and pack-houses.
Additionally, there is little understanding of how pre-harvest growth conditions influence maturity or storage.
We examined the growth and dry matter % (DM%) of squash fruit to determine if DM% is an appropriate maturity indicator and how it changes with growth conditions.
Results indicate that fruit DM % on its own is not a good indicator of maturity.
However, while flesh DM%, tends to plateau over time, skin DM % continues to increase, with the ratio of skin:flesh DM% of 1 being suggested as a suitable indicator of maturity.
Fruit fresh mass can increase due to the uptake of water as the skin DM% increases.
This could lead to micro-cracks in the skin surface allowing for pathogen infection and rots in storage.
A logistic equation described the change of skin and flesh DM% with thermal time, but DM% was affected by rainfall events in different ways, and these interactions may contribute to storage issues.
Definitions of maturity are still uncertain, and methods of measuring maturity differ among growers and pack-houses.
Additionally, there is little understanding of how pre-harvest growth conditions influence maturity or storage.
We examined the growth and dry matter % (DM%) of squash fruit to determine if DM% is an appropriate maturity indicator and how it changes with growth conditions.
Results indicate that fruit DM % on its own is not a good indicator of maturity.
However, while flesh DM%, tends to plateau over time, skin DM % continues to increase, with the ratio of skin:flesh DM% of 1 being suggested as a suitable indicator of maturity.
Fruit fresh mass can increase due to the uptake of water as the skin DM% increases.
This could lead to micro-cracks in the skin surface allowing for pathogen infection and rots in storage.
A logistic equation described the change of skin and flesh DM% with thermal time, but DM% was affected by rainfall events in different ways, and these interactions may contribute to storage issues.
Publication
Authors
B.P. Searle, A.R. Renquist
Keywords
Cucurbita maxima D., dry matter %, storage, thermal time, skin, flesh
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