During fruit colour development, the total anthocyanin contents in the outer pericarp increased more than 20-fold from stage 1 to stage 6, each value being significantly different from the preceding (P ≤ 0.001), whereas hue angle values decreased sharply ( Fig. 2B). The total anthocyanin contents in the inner pericarp tissue increased following the same trend, although the contents at all stages were less than those in the outer pericarp ( Fig. 2B). Hue angle values and total anthocyanin content were closely associated with fruit colour development.