Abstract
The changes of both chlorophyll concentration in the leaves and sugar concentration (Brix %) in the fruits were measured periodically for melon during its maturing stage. Whereas the chlorophyll concentration remained nearly the same level in the top leaves, it gradually decreased in the leaves closest to the melon fruits. The ratio of the latter chlorophyll concentration to the former was closely related to the sugar concentration in the melon fruits. The sugar concentration linearly increased as the ratio decreased; it stopped increasing after the ratio decreased below 0.36. This result suggests that it should be possible to judge the maturity of netted melons by monitoring the changes in leaf color.
