Tools for assessing internal fruit quality

March 2012 | Prepared by P.P. Subedi and K.B. Walsh, Central Queensland University | Future Orchards® Orchard Walk notes and presentation

P.P. Subedi and K.B. Walsh examine how internal fruit quality can be measured more objectively, particularly where consumer acceptance and retailer specifications depend on attributes such as soluble solids and dry matter. The resource takes a forward-looking approach and uses examples from mango supply chains to illustrate what may be possible in apples and pears.

The authors point out that fruit quality is highly variable within orchards and can vary with canopy position and other growing conditions. Conventional destructive sampling can only assess a small number of fruit, so the ideal would be a practical way to measure quality attributes across much larger numbers of individual fruit.

The presentation discusses non-destructive near-infrared approaches as a way to estimate internal characteristics without cutting fruit open. The value of these tools lies in their potential to support more objective maturity decisions, improve segregation of fruit into appropriate market or storage pathways and reduce the mismatch between external appearance and internal eating quality.

For growers and supply-chain managers, the resource provides context for the move toward sensor-based quality assessment and shows why measurement of internal quality is important when the objective is a more consistent consumer experience.