Determination of the minimum dry matter index for the optimum harvest of 'Hass' avocado fruits in Colombia

Abstract

Colombia has become an important producer of 'Hass' avocado in the last three years; however, a minimum dry matter content has not been established as a maturity index for harvest. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between oil percentage and dry matter content in order to establish a minimum harvest index for 'Hass' avocado fruits grown in Colombia. Samples were collected for maturity determinations over three years of 'Hass' avocado fruit cultivation from fifteen different orchards in the department of Antioquia in order to determine the dry matter and oil percentage of fruits throughout the season. A simple linear relationship between oil content and dry matter was thus established. The equations for all of the studied orchards presented a good correlation coefficient, ranging between 0.70 on the Cartucho orchard in the municipality of Retiro and 0.99 on the Gacamayas and Paraiso orchards in the municipality of Entrerrios and Retiro. Using the minimal oil standard of 11.2% as a reference, the orchards that were found to have a high dry matter percentage at harvest were Cartucho in Retiro (26%), followed by Piedras Blancas and Santa Cruz in the municipality of Venecia (25%); while the 'Hass' avocado fruit from the Cebadero orchard in Retiro, Coconi in the municipality of La Ceja and Guacamayas in Entrerrios reached this oil standard at 22% dry matter, which could be a commercial advantage. Based on these oil content results, a minimal dry matter index of 23.5% was proposed as a harvest maturity indicator for 'Hass' avocado grown in Colombia. This harvesting index will need to be refined over time and with the addition of samples from more regions and climatic data profiles.

Determination of some physicochemical properties in fruits of some avocado (Persea americana Mill.) cultivars during the harvesting periods

“…However, a negative relationship between seed weight and fruit flesh was noted (respectively -0.92 and -0.93).The oil and dry weight ratios of fruit flesh that are used as maturity indices for the different avocado cultivars are calculated according to typical values of the cultivars and harvesting time (Vakis et al, 1985;Hofman et al, 2002;Magwaza and Tesfay, 2015). The close relationship between the oil content and the dry weight ratios of the avocado increases during the fruit development process (Lee and Coggins, 1982;Undurraga et al, 1987;Requejo-Tapia et al, 1999;Carvalho et al, 2014;Magwaza and Tesfay, 2015). This data supports the findings obtained from this study.…”

Fruit quality in Hass avocado and its relationships with different growing areas under tropical zones

“…Despite the rapid growth of this productive system in Colombia, the industry has presented some technological limitations, constraints at the preharvest level associated with plant pathologies and insects, and problems in the selection of areas with appropriate soil and climatic conditions for planting this species (Torres-Jaimes et al, 2015;Ramírez-Gil et al, 2017;Ramírez-Gil & Morales-Osorio, 2018). However, information on fruit quality parameters is poor and only some studies that describe the direct relationship between altitude and fatty acid profile, minimum dry matter index for an optimum harvest, and determination of some physical-chemical parameters of avocado fruits for export are reported (Carvalho et al, 2014;Carvalho et al, 2015;Astudillo & Rodriguez, 2018). Rev.…”

Determination of harvesting time of Bacon, Fuerte and Zutano avocado cultivars in Antalya conditions

“…Therefore; the determination of maturity and ripening status according to harvesting times for avocado has a very great importance (Osuna-Garcia et al 2010 and the correct determination of harvest maturity is one of factors that play an important role on the post-harvest fruit quality (Magwaza and Tesfay 2015). If avocado harvested in the early period at the beginning of the maturity, this case along with undesirable fruit quality it causes to be found in lower level of the dry matter contents of fruit (Kassim et al 2013;Carvalho et al 2014). On the contrary, if harvest time is delayed, this case may be cause some changes such as cracking in the fruit bark, fruit drop, deteriorating and browning in the fruit flesh (Flitsanov et al 2000;Bayram and Tepe 2019).…”

“…avocado is an important criterion for the determination of maturity time (Mizrach et al 1999;Kassim et al 2013;Carvalho et al 2014). It is a known fact since a long time that the dry weight values of the fruit have increased during the harvest period and therefore, it has changed in a positive way of fruit quality (Arpaia et al 2003;Ozdemir et al 2003;Parodi et al 2007;Osuna-Garcia et al 2011).…”