Vol. 11, Issue 7 (2022)

Author(s):
Ajendra Kumar, D Ram and Amit Kumar Verma

Abstract:
Bael is an underutilised, native fruit with an excellent nutritional profile. Bael fruits follow a single sigmoid curve and are categorized as climacteric fruits, ripening 10 to 11 months after fruit set. An experiment was laid out during 2020-21 to analyse the change in the physicochemical characteristics of fruits of different genotypes at the maturation and ripening stage. The research was carried with four replications of each of the four bael genotypes (NB-4, NB-5, NB-7, NB-9) in a completely randomised design at the Main Experimentation Station, Acharya Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology, Kumarganj, Ayodhya. The results of the study demonstrated an increase in fruit weight, a nearly constant fruit size, and a decrease in the proportion of mucilage as the fruit ripens. Total soluble solids, sugars, and ascorbic acid increased between the maturation and ripening stages of fruit, although acidity decreased. NB-7 has the greatest size and fruit weight, NB-5 has the least mucilage (percent), the least acidity, and a greater amount of TSS, NB-4 has the maximum reducing sugars, non-reducing sugars, and total sugars, whereas, NB-9 has the greatest ascorbic acid content at ripened stage.