Physical and chemical characterization of melon fruits during their development

Abstract

The objective of this work was to study some physical and chemical changes during melon fruits development of four cultivars. An experiment was carried out at the experimental area of Plant Science Department of Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido - UFERSA, where the anthesis period was monitored. The experimental design used was of randomized complete blocks with three replications in a split-plot scheme. To the plots were assigned the melon cultivars ('AF 1749', Hy-Mark, Rochedo e Caipira) and to the subplots were assigned the harvested fruit times (7, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 days after anthesis). Four fruits per subplot of each cultivar were harvested in the different fruit times, and then, they were analyzed for average weight, firmness, soluble solids, total acidity, vitamin C and pH. There was a significant interaction between harvested fruit times and cultivars for average fruit weight, pulp firmness, total acidity, pH, vitamin C and soluble solids. The average fruit weight, pulp firmness, soluble solids, pH and Vitamin C increased and the total acidity decreased with the melon fruit's development.