Variation in soluble solids concentration in kiwifruit at harvest

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Abstract
Several sources of variation in the concentration of soluble solids in kiwifruit at harvest have been identified and quantified. Within a single fruit the major variation was in the distribution along the longitudinal axis of the fruit where differences of 1.2070 soluble solids were found between the 2 ends of fruit with a maturity index of 8.8. The position of fruit on the vine also has an effect, with areas being identified that yield fruit which, on average, have higher soluble solids concentrations than fruit from other areas. Other sources of variation between different fruit have also been quantified, including an effect of crop density in the vicinity of the fruit sampl~d and a smaller effect of fruit size. Components of variance between vines or within a vine were compared. The variation between individual fruit sampled randomly from a vine increased with increasing maturity index of the crop. The sources of variation identified in this study will be used to suggest improvements to the sampling system to increase the precision of maturity testing of kiwifruit in New Zealand.

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