College of Agriculture, P.B. No. 18, Bijapur - 586 101, India.
A field experiment was conducted to decide the optimum stages of harvest with suitable drying methods. The fruits were harvested at 15, 25, 30, 40 and 45 days after anthesis. The seeds were extracted immediately after harvest and drying in one method while in another method of drying fruits were shade dried and seeds were extracted. The optimum stage of fruit harvesting was found to be 40 days after anthesis followed by shade drying was recorded higher fruit length, girth, total dry matter accumulation and test weight.
