Ripening of ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk.) fruits on tree and during storage: Study on pulp firmness and cell wall composition

Fruits of ber cv. Umran were harvested from the tree at different ripening stages. The fruits were also harvested at green-mature stage and allowed to ripe in storage at room temperature (30 ± 3°C; 98% RH). It was observed that fruit firmness, moisture, cell wall yield, pectins, hemicelluloses and celluloses contents decreased with ripening in ber. Amongst the various pectin components, free pectins increased and ionically associated, covalently bound and hemicellulose bound pectins decreased during ripening. The pattern of changes were similar for fruits ripening on tree and in storage, except that on tree the loss of flesh firmness was largely found to be associated with degradation of celluloses and hemicelluloses, but in storage, pectins were relatively high.