J. Appl. Hort., 2(2):119-120, July-December, 2000
Maturity standards for date palm (Phoenix dactylifera)
M.S. Fageria, R.S. Dhaka and Mahesh Agrawal
Department of Horticulture, S.K.N. College of Agriculture, Jobner - 303 329 (Rajasthan)
Abstract
The harvesting stage influenced the fruit weight, acidity, T.S.S, organoleptic rating and spoilage percentage. The weight of fruits in all
the cultivars increased up to Doka stage and then slightly decreased at Dang stage. The total soluble solids in all the cultivars
increased from Gandora to Dang stage whereas acidity decreased. This study revealed that for raw consumption of dates as well as
for its better keeping quality, fruits should be harvested at Doka stage. As positive correlation was observed between TSS and
organoleptic rating. It is suggested that TSS may be considered as an index of maturity of dates.
Key words: Phoenix dactylifera, harvesting stage, T.S.S, organoleptic rating, spoilage, maturity index
Introduction
Results and discussion
India is one of the horticulture rich countries of the world. However,
the fruits and vegetables produced in India are not enough to meet
out the basic requirements of ever increasing population. There is
a considerable gap between gross production and net availability
of fruits and vegetables due to heavy postharvest losses
[approximately 30 per cent]. The post harvest losses in date palm
fruits in India are as high as 30 to 40 per cent due to heavy rains
during its maturity season. The postharvest losses in date palm
fruits can be minimized to a great extent by harvesting of the fruits
at right stage. Determining the maturity standards of different
varieties of dates is therefore, important for proper management,
handling, harvesting, drying, packaging and storage. Work done
on the physico-chemical changes during fruit development and
maturation of various date cultivars has been reported by many
workers (El-Azzouni et al., 1975; Hussein, 1970; Sawaya and
Klialil, 1986 and Chandra, 1994).
The sufficient variability for fruit weight, TSS, acidity, organoleptic
rating and shelf life was observed among genotypes (Table 1).
The weight of the fruits in all the cultivars increased up to Doka
stage and then slightly decreased at Dang stage (Table 2). Similar
results were also reported by Siddiqui and Gupta (1994).
The maturity of dates varies with genotype, climate and
geographical region. Therefore, the present study was undertaken
to determine the maturity standards for different cultivars of date
palm, under semi arid conditions of Rajasthan.
Materials and methods
The fruits of eight cultivars of date palm were procured from
plantation of Date palm Research Centre, Bikaner. The fruits were
harvested at Gandora (Kimri), Doka (Khalal) and Dang (Rutab)
stages. Fruits could not reach Pind (Tamar) stage because the
ripening time always coincided with onset of rains in the region
and fruits get spoiled due to rotting. The trial was laid out in Factorial
Randomized block design with three replications. The fruits were
harvested from 8 trees at different sites of plantation. The average
of 20 fruits selected randomly was taken for recording of different
observations. For keeping quality study, the fruits of all the cultivars
were stored under ordinary room temperature for 6 days. Acidity
was determined by titration method as suggested by AOAC (1980).
The total soluble solids content was determined by hand
refractometer. The organoleptic rating was done by a panel of five
experts on the basis of 0-10 point hedonic scale.
The maximum organoleptic rating for fresh fruits was noticed at
Dang stage very closely followed by Gandora stage. Whereas, on
the 6th day of storage the highest organoleptic rating and minimum
spoilage percentage in all the cultivars was observed at Doka stage.
Similar to it, Chandra et al. (1994) also reported that for eating of
dates as a raw fruit, the fruits in most of date palm cultivars must
be harvested at full Doka stage.
A Significant positive correlation was observed between total
soluble solids and organoleptic rating (Table 3). Hence, TSS may
be taken as an index of maturity in dates.
This study revealed that for raw consumption of dates as well as
for its better keeping quality, fruits from most of cultivars should
be harvested at Doka stage. The days taken from pollination to
different stages of maturity and heat summation from spathe
opening to maturity are also some important considerations for
judging maturity in dates.There is also an urgent need to develop/
screen an early maturing variety of dates so that its fruits may
reach to Pind stage before onset of monsoon.
References
A.O.A.C. 1980. Official Methods of Analysis, 13th Edition. Association
of official analytical chemists, Washington, D.C.
Chandra, A., N.L. Chaudhary and M.S. Manohar, 1994. A note on the
performance of date palm cultivars at Bikaner, Haryana J. Horti.
Sci., 23:131-134.
El-Azzouni, M.M., M.T. Kabeel, E.I. Baker and M.N. Rahman, 1975.
Development changes in fruit characters: maturity determination
of two date palm varieties. Annals Agric. Sci., 4: 221-34.
Hussein, F. 1970. Fruit growth and composition of dry cultivars grown
in Asswan. Tropical Agriculture, 47: 157-63.
120
Journal of Applied Horticulture
Sawaya, W.N. and J.K. Khalil, 1986. Growth and compositional changes
during the various developmental stages of date fruits. 75-94 PP.
In W.N. Sawaya Ed. Dates of Saudi Arabia, 1986. Food science
and Nutrition Section, Regional Agriculture and Water Research
Centre, Ministry of Agriculture and Water, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Siddiqui, S. and O.P. Gupta, 1994. Determination of maturity standards
of dates (Phoenix dactylifera L.). Haryana J. Hort. Sci., 23: 121124.
Table 1. Physico-chemical during various developmental stages and storage of date palm fruits
Cultuvar
Stage
Fruit
TSS
Acidity
Organoleptic
weight
(oBrix)
(mg/100g)
score(Fresh fruit)
Jagool
Gandora
5.17
17.00
240.00
3.00
Doka
6.07
21.67
180.00
6.50
Dang
5.70
25.00
108.33
6.83
Mean
5.64
21.22
176.11
5.41
Khadrawi
Gandora
6.30
15.83
211.67
2.57
Doka
9.77
20.83
125.00
6.83
Dang
7.77
29.00
81.67
7.23
Mean
7.94
21.89
139.44
5.51
Medjool
Gandora
9.83
18.83
218.67
2.40
Doka
11.10
22.93
155.00
5.87
Dang
11.90
28.93
75.00
7.07
Mean
11.61
23.50
149.56
5.11
Sharnran
Gandora
5.25
24.00
199.33
3.07
Doka
6.10
34.17
141.67
6.90
Dang
5.67
39.00
74.33
6.97
Mean
5.67
32.39
136.44
5.64
Halawy
Gandora
7.77
24.00
243.33
2.50
Doka
9.23
32.33
225.00
8.07
Dang
8.97
35.00
155.00
8.20
Mean
8.66
30.41
207.78
6.26
Barhee
Gandora
7.37
14.00
151.67
2.83
Doka
8.47
20.17
135.00
7.37
Dang
7.53
21.67
81.13
7.63
Mean
7.79
18.61
123.67
5.91
Khunezi
Gandora
8.57
26.67
202.00
3.30
Doka
10.17
45.00
165.00
7.30
Dang
9.33
46.33
120.67
7.43
Mean
9.36
39.33
162.56
6.01
Khalsa
Gandora
8.90
23.33
117.56
2.63
Doka
10.83
34.67
126.00
6.43
Dang
9.83
36.67
75.33
6.53
Mean
9.86
31.06
116.33
5.20
CD at 5%
Cultivars
0.33
1.03
11.13
0.32
Stages
0.20
0.63
6.81
0.20
Cultivar x stages
0.57
1.79
19.27
0.56
Table 2. Means of different characters at differnt stages of harvest
Stage
Fruit
Acidity
TSS
weight (g)
(mg/100g)
(oBrix)
Gandora
7.39
201.01
20.45
Doka
9.22
156.58
28.96
Dang
8.34
96.83
32.69
CD (p=0.05)
0.20
6.81
0.63
Table 3. Correlation cofficients among six characters of date palm
Acidity
TSS
o
(mg/100g)
( Brix)
Fruit weight
-0.195
0.251
Acidity
-0.374
TSS
Orgaloleptic score (Fresh fruit)
Orgaloleptic score (6th day)
Organoleptic
score(6th day)
4.33
6.27
4.17
4.92
3.60
6.07
4.97
4.88
3.07
5.93
4.83
4.61
4.17
6.23
4.50
4.97
3.17
6.97
5.67
5.27
3.90
7.00
5.87
5.50
4.07
6.07
4.17
4.77
3.20
6.43
4.33
4.66
0.36
0.22
0.62
Organoleptic
Organoleptic
score (Fresh fruit) score (6th day)
2.79
23.69
6.91
6.37
7.23
4.81
0.20
0.22
Organoleptic
score (fresh fruit)
0.250
-0.618
0.597**
Organoleptic
score (6th day
0.231
-0.208
0.238
0.755*
Spoilage (%)
(6th day)
14.17
10.67
19.83
14.69
12.50
9.40
16.23
12.71
12.00
10.90
15.70
12.87
10.33
9.07
14.40
11.27
10.43
9.33
14.97
11.58
8.30
7.73
14.80
10.28
8.27
8.10
16.30
10.89
8.17
7.47
15.17
10.27
0.64
0.39
1.11
Spoilage (%)
(6th day)
10.52
9.01
15.93
0.39
Spoilage (%)
(6th day)
-0.167
-0.429
0.167
0.284
-0.281