Eighth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

Ripening indices determination is one of the most important information that must be known in order to determine the best date for harvest which can critically affect fruit marketability. Melons are considered as one of the most important fruits worldwide with a fast growing fresh cut market and a wide range of cultivated accessions. Therefore, the ripening indices between melon accessions are diverse and it is a complicated issue to determine the perfect date of harvest. Moreover, the diversity of the climacteric properties is considerably high between varieties and this characteristic complicates the selection of the proper harvest date. In this review we try to shed some light on the most common ripening indices in melon fruit with a glance of its genetic control, which can help a better understanding of ripening behavior and also supports melon scientific research.