HORTICULTURE

Detailed explanation-1: -Firmness: The fruit changes in texture during maturity, especially during ripening when it can become increasingly soft. Excessive loss of moisture can also affect the texture of crops. These texture changes are detected by touch, and the grower may be able to determine by simply pressing the fruit gently.

Detailed explanation-2: -During fruit ripening, softening occurs due to enzymatic degradation of cell walls (Johnston et al. 2002). Fruit firmness, in general, decreases as fruits become more mature and decreases rapidly as they ripen.

Detailed explanation-3: -The physical parameters like the fruit weight, width and length increased throughout the growth. In turn, fruit firmness, titratable acidity (TA) and starch accumulation increased during the initial growth stage and later then decreased during maturity.