Comparison of quality attributes of fig fruit ('Bursa Siyahi') harvested at two different maturity stages

Fresh fig is highly perishable fruit during the harvesting, handling, storage and marketing. Managing these operations is a tough task and needs professional skill and caution. Harvest maturity is the most important factor of success in postharvest management of figs. Generally, they are harvested by growers at commercial maturity stage but before reaching tree ripematurity stage due to its limited postharvest life. This situation is evident during exportation of fruits. However, this means loss of nutritional quality and taste regarding consumer's point of view. In this study, comparison of postharvest quality of 'Bursa Siyahi' fresh fig fruit harvested at two different maturity stages (commercial and tree ripe) were determined. Fruit weight, firmness, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), TSS/TA ratio, lightness (L*), Chroma (C*), Hue angle (h degrees), taste, respiration rate and ethylene production were investigated. Commercial ripe maturity stage exhibited lower quality attributes of fruits which thus lead to consumer's preference of those picked at tree ripe stage. The laters had maximal quality as compared to the commercial ripe stage. Higher respiration rate and ethylene production were recorded in fruits harvested at commercial mature stage than fruits on picked at tree ripe stage. It is, therefore, vital to optimize harvest time according to the marketing and transportation conditions or to classify the harvested products according to maturity stage.