
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Macnish, A. J. 
A1  - Joyce, D. C. 
A1  - Shorter, A. J. 
T1  - A simple non-destructive method for laboratory evaluation of fruit firmness
JF  - Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture
JO  - Aust. J. Exp. Agric.
Y1  - 1997
VL  - 37
IS  - 6
SP  - 709
EP  - 713
KW  - 
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1071/EA97033 
N2  - Summary. Devices which offer simple, inexpensive, reliable and non-destructive objective measurement of fruit firmness assist in the monitoring of quality. For the present study, the Analogue CSIRO Tomato Firmness Meter (AFM), which measures fruit deformation under a 500 g load applied for 30 s was modified by replacing the analogue displacement gauge with a digital gauge and by using a laboratory jack for positioning the fruit in the vertical dimension. Non-destructive measurements of tomato fruit softening during ripening and determined with the Digital Firmness Meter (DFM) were strongly correlated with both firmness measured with the AFM (r2 = 0.96, n = 19) and with firmness determined subjectively by hand pressure (r2 = 0.93, n = 19). Similarly, mango fruit softening during ripening was monitored and DFM and hand firmness measurements were well correlated (r2 = 0.95, n = 10). The firmness of individual fruit could be measured around 20% faster with the DFM than with the AFM, and displacement was easier to read from the digital than from the analogue display. The DFM proved to be a suitable device for measuring fruit firmness in postharvest laboratory studies and warrants evaluation under commercial packing and handling conditions. 
ER  -

