2.1. Determination of physical characteristics of intact and trimmed young coconut fruit
2.1.1. Physical characteristics of the coconut samples
A number of young coconut fully mature fruit of the “Namhom” variety were obtained. Thirty intact and 30 trimmed young coconut fruit were randomly selected from three big fruit markets in the Bangkok metropolitan area (10 from each location). The diameter D and height H of each intact fruit were measured using vernier callipers ( Fig. 1 and Fig. 2). The physical characteristics of each trimmed fruit sample (fruit height h1, shoulder height h2, shoulder diameter dh, base diameter db) were then measured. The intact and the trimmed samples were sectioned along the stem axis using a saw and a large sharp knife (Fig. 2). Following this, a selected half sample that had been arranged horizontally was photographed using an Olympus C750 Ultra zoom digital camera (Olympus Corp., Japan). The dimensions of the young coconut were then measured using the Measure Tool (I) function in the Adobe Photoshop CS (Adobe Systems Inc., CA, USA) computer software application (Jansomwong & Jaroenpru, 2002). The position of shell in the intact fruit as compared to that in the trimmed fruit was determined as well. Knowledge of the physical characteristics described above was essential to the design of the automatic young coconut fruit trimming machine. The complete list of characteristics was as follows: