2.4. Fruit firmness Fruit firmness was assessed by using an Instron Universal Test-ing Machine (Model 5543 P5995 USA) connected with a computer.The force required to penetrate 10 mm inside the fruit using a probediameter of 6 mm was measured. The machine was set with com-pression mode and speed of 20 mm min−1. Readings were recordedon 3 points in the equatorial region of the whole fruit with skinremoved and the results were expressed in terms of force recordedin Newtons (N).