Oral Presentation on Maturity indices for harvesting of low chilling peach cultivars at National Conference of Horticulture Society of India held at CITH, Srinagar

1. By: Dr. Parshant Bakshi, FHTHS
Associate Professor, Fruit Science–SKUAST - J
National Conference on: Temperate fruits and Nuts-A
way forward for Enhancing Productivity and Quality
on 6th
to 9th
November, 2015
Maturity indices for harvesting of low chilling
peach cultivars

2. Contents
Flowering and Fruiting
Results
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Objective
Nutritional value

3. Introduction
 Peaches should be harvested at optimum stage of maturity.
 A large number of maturity indices viz.,
days to maturity calendar date fruit size
firmness sense of touch pit discoloration freeness
of pit taste ground colour sugar
acidity sugar: acid ratio
For distant markets, peach should be harvested when it attain
good colour but is still hard and ripe, whereas for local consumption,
tree ripe peaches are harvested by twisting with hand.
The peak harvesting period for different peach cultivars in hills
is mid-May to mid-July.
Peaches ripen very fast as the harvesting season coincides with
the prevailing high seasonal temperature.

4. Introduction
Very huge wastage occurs in India when all the peach produce
is harvested without considering the maturity of fruit.
 Low chilling peach has high prospect for its cultivation in the
North Indian condition, so there is an urgent need to standardize
the maturity indices of its cultivars for good quality fruit.
 Maturity at harvest is the most important factor that
determines storage-life and final fruit quality.
Both immature and over mature fruits persist numerous
problems during handling, storage and transportation.
Picking up the fruits at correct stage of maturity is necessary
or essential so as to facilitate proper ripening, distant
transportation and maximum storage life.

5. Principle Nutrient
Value
Principle Nutrient
Value
Principle Nutrient
Value
Energy 39 Kcal Vitamin C 6.6 mg Electrolytes
Carbohydrates 9.54 g Vitamin E 0.73 mg Sodium 0 mg
Protein 0.91 g Vitamin K 2.6 µg Potassium 190 mg
Total Fat 0.25 g Folates 4 µg
Cholesterol 0 mg Niacin 0.806 mg Minerals
Dietary Fiber 1.5 g Pyridoxine 0.025 mg Calcium 6 mg
Vitamins Pantothenic acid 0.153 mg Iron 0.25 mg
Vitamin A 326 IU Riboflavin 0.031 mg Magnesium 9 mg
Thiamine 0.028 mg Manganese 0.61 mg
Phyto-nutrients Zinc 0.17 mg
Carotene-ß
Crypto-xanthin-ß
162 µg
67 µg
Lutein-
zeaxanthin
91 µg Copper 0.068 mg

6. Objectives
 To standardize the maturity indices of important low chilling
peach cultivars of Jammu region.
 ToTo create awareness about the maturity indices of peach
among the farmers both for catering the needs of export
market and for marketing of produce in distant locations
within the country.
 To assist R & D programme by developing a promising tool
for indicating the optimum harvest date for specific fruit crop
for particular area..

7. Materials and Methods
 Research Farm, Uheywalla, SKUAST–J during 2012 and 2013.
Three peach cultivars viz., Florda Prince, Early Grande and Shan-
e-Punjab having age of 9-10 years
 One plant per replication; 03 replications of each cultivar.
 20 fruits per treatment
 Fruit weight (g) was calculated by Indosaw digital balance
 Length (cm) and diameter (cm) of fruit was determined by
Mitusyo digital vernier caliper.
Fruit volume (cc) was determined by water displacement
method.
 TSS (o
Brix) recorded by Erma Hand refractometer.
 Acidity (%), sugars (%) and ascorbic acid (mg/l00g pulp) of fruits
were determined according to A.O.A.C. (1994).
 Statistical Analysis by using Panse and Sukhatme (2000)

8. Flowering and Fruiting

10. Fruits of different peach cultivars at harvesting
maturity stage

12. Fig. 1. Periodic changes in physical characteristics of peach cv.
Florda Prince

13. Fig. 2. Periodic changes in chemical characteristics of peach cv.
Florda Prince
Scale

15. Fig. 3. Periodic changes in physical characteristics of peach cv.
Early Grande

16. Fig. 4. Periodic changes in chemical characteristics of peach cv.
Early Grande

18. Fig. 5. Periodic changes in physical characteristics of peach cv.
Shan-e-Punjab
Harvesting dates

19. Fig. 6. Periodic changes in chemical characteristics of peach cv.
Shan-e-Punjab

20. Awareness programme on MI of peach

21. Maturity at harvest is the most important factor that
determines storage-life and final fruit quality.
Fruits picked either too early or too late in their season are
more susceptible to post harvest physiological disorders than
fruit picked at the proper maturity.
The level of maturity actually helps in selection of storage
methods, estimation of shelf life, selection of processing
operations for value addition etc.
Conclusion
Name of fruit Cultivar Harvesting date
Florda Prince Last week of April
Peach Early Grande Last week of April
Shan-e-Punjab 2nd
week of May

22. Acknowledgement
The authors are highly thankful to Dr. Nazeer Ahmed,
Nodal Officer HTM (MM-1) for providing funding under
the project entitled “Determination of quality and
harvest maturity for commercially grown fruit crops in
Jammu sub-tropics”

23. To Contact
Call: 00-91-9419101601
Email: parshantskuastj@gmail.com
Website: www.krishisandesh.com
http://skuast.org/site/Templates
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24. Thank You

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