ISHS Acta Horticulturae 352: VI International Symposium on Rubus and Ribes
"BERRYBOUNCE": A TECHNIQUE FOR THE RAPID AND NON-DESTRUCTIVE MEASUREMENT OF FIRMNESS IN SMALL FRUIT. |
| Authors: | N. Patel, A. McGlone, P. Schaare, H. Hall |
| Abstract:
Fruit firmness is an important quality parameter that small fruit researchers frequently consider. Current methods of measuring firmness, such as spring force gauges or the Instron tester, are labour intensive and non-repeatable as fruit are damaged during testing. A technique has been developed which allows large numbers of fruit to be quickly and non-destructively measured for firmness. The fruit are dropped a small distance onto a force sensor. The contact time of the fruit on the force sensor varies inversely with fruit firmness. Data are captured instantaneously on a PC, enabling rapid statistical analysis and presentation of results. The non-destructive nature of measurement enables repeat assessment of berry samples during storage trials. The fruit firmness system, Berry Bounce, has been used successfully to measure firmness within large samples of raspberries and blueberries at a rate ten times faster than that achievable using an Ametek force gauge. | |
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