A bevelled holder prevented bruising of the opposite
side. For each fruit, the diameter was measured and then a force
that achieved a 3% deformation of the fruit diameter was applied.
Results were expressed as the force-deformation (N mm−1) and
were the mean
±
SE. After firmness determination, fruit from each
treatment were randomly grouped into 3 sub-samples and manually
peeled to separate the peel from the flesh. The flesh tissue
from each sub-sample was cut in small pieces and used to determine
total soluble solids concentration (TSS) and titratable acidity
(TA) in duplicate.