Some chemical components of garden egg as affected by stage of fruit ripeness, storage temperature and duration of storage

Abstract

Fresh fruits of garden egg were sorted into green, yellow bottom and yellow all over stages of fruit ripeness. Each set of fruits was stored at 4<sup>0Cand 270C for up to 16 days, respectively. The effects of stage of fruit ripeness, storage temperature and duration of storage on some chemical components of garden egg were studied. Results of the moisture content, vitamin C content, titratable acidity and pH values showed that these chemical components were best when fresh and at the green stage. The chemical components determined retained higher quality under refrigerated storage compared with storage at room temperature. Statistically, the main factors and their interactions were found to have significant influences on these chemical components at 0.05 confidence level. The interaction of fruit ripeness and storage temperature had the least significant influence on the tested parameters. The least affected parameter was the pH value.

Key words: Chemical components; garden egg; ripeness; storage

Moor Journal of Agricultural Research Vol.4(2) 2003: 225-229</sup>