Abraham Amadeus

The measurement of firmness is of paramount importance to know the proper maturity and ripening stage during growth and storage of fruit. Firmness can be an indicator of immaturity or overmaturity. Excessive peach firmness, for example, can indicate an immature peach with little free juice. Conversely, an overmature, soft peach can be excessively juicy and […]

Fruit can alternatively undergo a mild non-destructive test where the deformation response of a large cylinder probe or platen is measured to effectively mimic the compression between one’s fingers. However this has the problem of measurement variability due to differing contact area with the fruit surface which varies because of irregularities in fruit shape and […]

This type of test commonly applies to: Kramer Shear Cell a: Soft fruits: drupelets and berries – e.g. cranberries, blueberries, blackberry, raspberry, strawberry, pomegranate arils, grapes b: Fibrous samples: such as pomegranates, citrus fruits, pineapples which have been prepared into pieces. c: Pieces of fruit that have been prepared into smaller pieces e.g. apple cubes. The primary issue […]

A compression test may be the preferred test method, but where fruit samples vary in size this will immediately reflect in the magnitude of force measured as it is subject to surface area differences and consequently the reproducibility of results will be poor. In this instance, the fruit will be required to be prepared into pieces […]

Testing fruits of non-homogenous nature or variable texture, such as water melons where there is a high seed content, is not only tricky by any puncture, shearing or compression method, but often results in low reproducibility and misleading data. In any of these tests, the data may show wide variances between maximum and minimum force resistance, […]

Measuring Detachment Force Table grapes are highly perishable, non-climacteric fruits. Their shelf life is shortened by loss of firmness, berry drop, discoloration of the stem, desiccation and fungal rots. The berry drop is due basically to dry-drop (or abscission) – ethylene in conjunction with falling auxin levels, induces the formation of an abscission zone at […]

Fresh fruits are in many ways ideal snacks, but suffer from difficulties in distribution and lack of universal seasonal availability. Convenience, therefore, dictates that frequently some preparation and preservation needs to be carried out to ensure their availability throughout the year, ensure consistency of quality and even enhancement of particular attributes. Whilst dried fruits retain a […]

Measuring Firm Paste Texture  Texture is a very important property of fruit pastes since they are often used as fillings for energy bars and other products containing fruits. Among all textural properties, hardness and stickiness are the most important, since they can dictate the possibility of application onto a product. Usually fruit pastes are applied […]

Fruit Leather A fruit leather is made by drying a very thin layer of fruit puree or a mixture of fruit juice concentrate and other ingredients on a flat surface in an oven, desiccators or in direct sunlight, to obtain a product with a chewy texture similar to soft leather.  Almost any type of fruit […]

The market for fruit preparations continues to grow, in large part due to their health and natural image. The addition of fruit is immediately seen to add value, as well as sophistication, to products, from yoghurt to fresh cheese and ice cream. Consumers look for a high level of large fruit pieces, evenly suspended, with […]