Ripening Behavior Of Durian Applied With Different Levels Of Ethephon

Abstract

The study investigated the effects of different levels of ethephon on duration to ripening and some physico chemical characteristics of durian using mature and immature fruits. The experiment was composed of 8 treatment combinations with 3 replications in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The treatments composed of 1, 3, and 5 percent of ethephon with tap water for the control. Specifically, data were gathered using sensory evaluation on color and texture of fruits, weight loss was computed at day of ripening including the chemical composition of the edible portion of the fruit such as total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), and pulp pH. The study revealed the use of ethephon at 1%as a ripening agent in durian at right stage of maturity (120 DAFI) given the generally significant difference in duration of ripening, color, texture and taste consistent with TSS while a comparable result was found in 2 terms of weight loss, fruit acidity and pulp pH. The fruits harvested 120 DAFI obtained the shortest waiting time to ripening as exhibited by all treatments using ethephon except the control comparable with fruits harvested 110 DAFI. This result tends to explain further that the application of ethephon in fruits harvested 110 DAFI fits the purpose of ripening induction but failed to exhibit comparable color patterns, taste and texture of the fruit at the ideal stage of maturity. Thus, the application of ethephon works good with fruits at maturity level ideal for harvesting at 120 DAFI.