Physical Properties and Compositional Changes of two Cultivars of Cantaloupe Fruit During Various Maturity Stages

Some physical properties and chemical compositions of two cultivars (Semsouri and Shahabadi) of cantaloupe studied during four different stages of maturity from fruit set to completely ripe. The physical properties investigated were the geometric mean diameter (GMD), specific gravity (SG), mean firmness (MF), rind, seed (%) and flesh (%). The chemical compositions were Brix, Titrable Acidity (TA), moisture content, pH, and ash. The results showed that the GMD, flesh (%), Brix, and pH values of both cultivars increased in the full-ripe stage of maturity whereas there was concurrent decrease in SG, rind (%), seed (%), moisture content, TA, and ash values obtained in the same period. There were also significant differences (using GLM-multivariate analysis) in all measured variables apart from ash, seed (%), rind (%), and flesh (%) between the two cultivars. Overall, the linear relationships were obtained between sugar content and GMD, SG, and MF respectively, correlation coefficients being higher than 0.87.