Effect of Stage of Maturity at Harvest on the Quality of Selected Papaya (Carica Papaya L.) Fruit Varieties

Abstract

Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is nutritionally important fruit crop grown in Ethiopia. The different varieties of Papaya (Carica papaya L.) harvested at different harvesting maturity stages exhibits different physicochemical properties and sensory quality results. The objective of this study was to make clear the effect of harvesting maturity stage on the quality of papaya fruit varieties. The changes in the quality were studied based on measured physicochemical, proximate composition and sensory quality of the fruit. The experiment was 6×4 factorial experiment arranged in CRD design with three replications. The first factor consisted of six different papaya varieties namely (MK-141, ML-121, KK-102, KK-103, CMF-078 and CMF-061) which were obtained from Melkasa Agricultural Research Centre horticulture orchard. While the second factor comprised of four harvesting maturity stages, HM1, HM2, HM3 and HM4, corresponding to Matured green, 1/4 yellow skin, 1/2yellow skin, and 3/4 yellow skin respectively. Fruits were stored at ambient temperature and data were collected on the different response variables and analyzed using SAS version 9.2 Software.The result of the study revealed that Variety and maturity at harvesting and their interaction effect had a significant effect on the physicochemical and sensory quality of papaya fruits. From the findings VarietyMK-141and ML-121 can be categorized as large fruits and variety CMF-061 and KK-102 as medium size fruits and variety KK-103 and variety CMF-078 as small sized fruits. The highest firmness was recorded from variety ML-121and the lowest from variety CMF-061. Firmness decreased with increase harvesting maturity stages. The TSS content was highest in variety KK-102 and lowest in variety ML-121. TSS increase with increase harvesting maturity stage. TA showed a decreasing trend as the storage time increased and the maximum was recorded from variety CMF-061while the minimum was from variety CMF-078.Ascorbicacid increase with increase harvesting maturity stages. On the other hand, the maximum ascorbic acid was recorded from variety KK-103 harvested at 3/4 yellow skin maturity stage whereas the lowest was recorded from variety ML-121 harvested at green mature stage. Beta-carotene content was highest in variety KK-102 harvested at 3/4 yellow skin maturity stage and the lowest was recorded from variety CMF-078 harvested at green mature stage. The protein and fat contents increased with increasing harvesting maturity stage from in all the six varieties while ash and fiber contents showed a decreasing trend. The sensory result showed the whole treatment combinations score resulted in overall acceptability score of 3 and above showing that fruits harvested at the four maturity stages had acceptable sensory quality. Finally, this research has helped to establish a relationship between variety and stage of maturity stage at harvest with papaya fruit quality. Farmers and other stakeholders are encouraged to harvest papaya fruits based on the intended purpose of the specific variety at different harvesting maturity stage and the distance of the nature of the market. Therefore, synchronizing during harvesting might be needed to have acceptable good quality fruits in the market and to satisfy the demands of the consumers of different categories. However, further studies are essential to assess the suitability of papaya fruits of different varieties harvested at various stages of maturity for production of a range of value added products.