Physico-chemical composition of sweet orange (Citrus sinensis. cv Agege 1) with fruit maturity in an organic production system

Summary

This study investigated changes in the physical, biochemical and proximate composition of sweet orange (cv. Agege 1) with fruit maturity in a 7 year old orchard cultivated under organic production system of the tropical humid climate. The experiment was conducted for two consecutive early seasons between November 2014 and May 2016 at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. Nigeria. Sweet orange trees were fertilized with 10t/ha poultry manure/tree twice in a year and fruits were harvested from 90 days after fruit set to 240 days after fruit set to evaluate for quality changes. Fruit and peel weight, juice volume, seed numbers and total soluble solids (TSS) contents of the sweet orange increased significantly (p<0.05) with fruit maturity. However, vitamin C content, titratable acidity and firmness decreased with fruit maturity. The peel colour of the fruits remained green with maturity