Proc. of
Avocado Fruit Maturation and Criteria for Harvest
A. Blumenfeld, R. Offer, M. Elimelech, C Degani, and R. El Bazri
Department of Fruit Trees, Agricultural Research
Organization, The
Abstract. We regard
"horticultural maturity" of avocado fruit as the point in time when
harvested fruit will soften properly and will have a certain minimum acceptable
taste. Time from harvest to softening of a fruit is generally shorter when
maturity is advanced. The differences in time to soften between the adaxial and
the abaxial portions of the fruit also diminish with maturity. Oil and dry
matter may be used as a criterion of harvest. Each cultivar, however, has a
distinct level of oil and dry matter when it reaches its minimal acceptable
taste. The rate of oil accumulation also varies between cultivars. An
additional problem is that in a given orchard, the time of attaining
"horticultural maturity" can vary up to three weeks from year to
year. Generally, there is no clear relationship between fruit weight and time
of "horticultural maturity", although a positive relationship is
sometimes found. When rates of oil/dry matter accumulation in fruit were
studied, a sharp change was found. However, we were unable to use this change
as a criterion for predicting time of harvest.