Abstract
The morphological characteristics of fruits, changes in fruit sugar contents, and sugar composition in three sapodilla cultivars grown in Vietnam were investigated at different maturation stages and after storage. The fruit weight, flesh weight and flesh percentage were the largest in‘Ta’, followed by‘Xiem’and‘Day’. The fruits of‘Xiem’and‘Day’were oval, and those of‘Ta’were round. The tasting quality was the highest in‘Xiem’, followed by‘Day’and‘Ta’. The total soluble solid (TSS) content, which was determined by the addition of 5% Polyethylene glycol (PEG) to remove tannins, and the total sugar content increased throughout the fruit maturation. The TSS and total sugar contents were the highest in‘Xiem’, followed by‘Day’ and‘Ta’at the yellow and dark yellow stages. There were no differences in the changes in the fructose and glucose contents during the maturation of fruits among the three cultivars, whereas the content of sucrose changed remarkably and was high in‘Xiem’and‘Day’compared with‘Ta’. The cultivar differences in the total sugar content of the fruits depended on the content of sucrose. An analysis of the sugar contents during storage using the‘Xiem’fruits at the light yellow and yellow stages showed that the sugar contents changed differently. However, ‘Xiem’could be harvested when its second skin was light yellow (turning stage) .
