Colour and composition of improved pepino cultivars at three ripening stages

Depending on its ripening stage, the pepino (Solanum muricatum Aiton) can b e consumed as a vegetable for cooking (green), for salads (turning), or as a dessert fruit (ripe). We studied physical (weight and colour), physicoche mical (moisture content, soluble solids content, pH, and titratable acidity ), and chemical (ascorbic acid content, soluble and total proteins) charact eristics of two improved pepino cultivars ('Sweet Round' and 'Sweet Long') at the three maturity stages associated to the three different uses. Colour parameter a* and the hue angle allowed an unambiguous distinction between the different ripening stages, while parameters L:*, b* and chroma did not. Moisture content was high at all ripening stages, usually above 90%. As th e ripening progressed, pH and ascorbic acid content raised. The soluble sol ids content increased from the green to the turning stage in both cultivars , but there was no variation between the turning and ripe stages in 'Sweet Round' and a decrease in the ripe stage in 'Sweet Long'. Titratable acidity , and as a consequence the maturity index, showed irregular behaviour with the highest values at the turning stage. Protein content was low and showed little variation among clones and ripening stages.