EFFECT OF HARVEST TIME AND STORAGE DURATION ON PHYSICO-CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF CITRUS (CITRUS SINESIS VAR. LATE VALENCIA)

Abstract

Citrus fruits are mostly consumed as fresh fruit and as processed natural fruit juice which is rich in vitamin C and other important nutritional food supplements. However, the nutritional content of citrus fruits depend on the physico-chemical content of the fruit at maturity and in holding. This paper investigated the effect of harvesting time and storage duration on the physico-chemical properties of the citrus fruits (Citrus sinensis var. late Valencia) and its likely impact on quality natural fruit juice processing in Ghana. The study used experimental method, (2 ×2) factorial design with three replications. A total of 450 fruits with the same maturity periods were harvested from the same farm for three different months (December 2011, January and February 2012), harvesting 150 fruits each month. A sample of 50 fruits physico-chemical properties were analyzed in their fresh state on day one of harvest while the remaining 100 fruits were stored at ambient temperature for five and ten days before analysis. The major findings of the study were that Vitamin C content of fruits increased with duration of storage, early harvested fruits contained high TSS and TTA and did not depend on storage duration. Also, TSS content in full ripe fruits increase as sugar content increases and acid content decreases. The study therefore concluded that vitamin C content of citrus fruits depends on duration of storage before processing while that of TSS and TTA did not depend on duration of storage before processing.