(40(2):37-44)Studies on the picking maturity of “Tainung NO.4” Pineapple for export

本試驗以果皮變色多寡分五種不同成熟度，即（A）果皮綠色上端略帶紫色者（未熟果），（B）果皮由基部開始1／4綠黃色者，（C）果皮基部2／4綠黃色者，（D）果皮3／4綠黃色者，（E）果皮全部變黃色者。每處理20個分裝2箱，五重覆，分春、夏兩季果實進行試驗，結果顯示，果皮顏色隨貯放日數的增加由綠色轉變成黃色而至深黃色，成熟度愈高轉變速度愈快；而果肉亦因貯存而自白色變為淡黃色，但不若果皮明顯。風味方面，決定於採收的成熟度，高成熟度風味佳，唯病變發生較快，影響貯藏耐力。至於不同季節生產果實貯藏力以春果較夏果為強。綜合以上結果，外銷台農四號鳳梨鮮果，適當的採收成熟度，春果以果皮色自下部（果實基部）開始1／2為綠黃色者（約5分熟）；夏果以1／4～1／2為綠黃色（約2分至4分熟）。The maturity of pineapple fruits in this experiment are classified, according to the color break of the fruits, e. g. (A) The fruit still green and the top of the fruit still showed purple tinged (unriped fruit). (B) 1/4 of the fruit from the base was turned to be greenish yellow. (C) 2/4 of the fruit from the base was turned to be greenish yellow (D) 3/4 of the fruit turned to be greenish yellow. (E) the fruit was fully turned to be yellow (fully riped). By using 20 fruits put into 2 boxes as a treatment with 5 replications. The experiment was done both in the Spring and Summer harvest seasons. The results indicated: During the storage, the fruit color was turned from green to yellow then to be deep yellow. The color turn was faster as the maturity increased The color of flesh changed from white to pale yellow as the fruit riped but it was not so significantly as the peel did. The eating quality was determinated by the maturity when harvested. The matured fruits had the better fruit quality but deteriorated very fast and affected the keeping quality very much during storage. The keeping quality of the Spring harvested fruits performed better than the Summer harvested one. According to the results showed above, the suitable maturity for harvesting pineapple cultivar Tainung no 4 (TARI# 4) for export should be 2/4 of the spring harvested fruit color turned to be greenish yellow (around 50% riped), but for the Summer harvested one the color turned 1/4 to 2/4 (around 20% to 40% riped) be enought