ABSTRACT
The changes in color during the ripening from green to orange-red/red color are characteristic for each cultivar and are linked with a loss of firmness ; a strong correlation exists between color and firmness in all the cultivars. The main difference between astringent and non-astringent cultivars is the changes in soluble tannin content during maturation. Astringency has been defined by the American Society for Testing and Materials as “the complex of sensations due to shrinking, drawing or puckering of the epithelium as a result of exposure to substances such as alums or tannin acids”. The physiological disorders that may affect the fruit during the postharvest period are importantly conditioned by the presence of astringency at harvest; in some cases in a direct way, while in others indirectly through the postharvest operations to which fruit must be submitted to remove the astringency before commercialization.
