Nondestructive maturity assessment tools for commercially viable fruits and vegetables in Uganda

Abstract

Fruit and vegetable maturity at harvest influences transportation and storage requirements as well as market value. However, small scale farmers in Uganda lack technologies for maturity assessment leading to high pre-and post-harvest losses and low financial returns from fruit and vegetable farms. This study, therefore, assessed the development of fruits (pineapple, passion fruit, watermelon) and vegetables (cabbage, egg plant, pumpkin and tomato), determined optimal maturity indices and fabricated and tested nondestructive tools for maturity assessment. Propagation trials and testing of tools were undertaken at Nangabo and Kangulumira sub counties in central Uganda. The findings show that eggplant, passion fruit, pineapple and pumpkin underwent 3 distinct development stages during which their diameter, length and outer colour changed. Cabbage remained green, but its bulb diameter and length varied with maturity. Watermelon had 4 development stages with significant (P≤0.05) changes in morphology and outer colour. Tomato fruits had 6 distinct outer colour changes. Age and colour were maturity indices for passion fruit. Fruit age and diameter were the maturity indices for watermelon. Age, diameter, length and colour were the maturity indices for pineapple, tomato and eggplant. Cabbage and pumpkin share indices including: age, diameter and length. A farm record book (FRB) was designed for documenting phenology and maturity stages of studied fruits and vegetables. A calibrated calliper (CC) and Calibrated tape (CT) were fabricated for assessing the morphological development in pineapple, tomato, eggplant, cabbage, pumpkin and watermelon. Customized colour charts (CCC) were designed for monitoring colour changes as passion fruits, pineapples, tomatoes and eggplants mature. On-farm trials show that CCCs were the most effective tools for monitoring passion fruit (80%), pineapple (64%), tomato (60%), eggplant (68%). Similar studies involving several cultivars and maturity determination tools are, therefore, recommended.

Characterisation of Allium sativum bulb and its component for high end applications

“…These parameters may be helpful for the assessment of freshness and maturity indices of garlic cloves by non-destructive method. It was useful as maturity indices for the evaluation of vegetables [25].…”

Fruit and vegetables

“…Examples of low-cost tools that can be used by small-scale farmers include farm record books to keep track of the calendar of crop development, calibrated callipers and tapes for measuring size, and customized colour charts. See Okiror et al (2017) for a study on the use of these tools by small-scale farmers in Uganda.…”

Fruits et légumes

“…Parmi les outils bon marché à la disposition des petits producteurs, citons un journal de bord pour retracer le développement des cultures, un pied à coulisse et un mètre-ruban permettant de mesurer la taille des produits, ou des tables de gamme de couleurs personnalisés. Une étude de l'utilisation de tels outils par les petits agriculteurs en Ouganda est disponible dans Okiror et al (2017).…”