Hossein Golbakhshi

Changes in physical and mechanical properties of two melon (Cucumis melo L.) cultivars ('Zard-Eyvanekey' and 'Sousky-Sabz') were studied in five different stages of ripening. The fruits were harvested at immature, early ripening, moderately ripe, ripe and over ripe stages and taking into account some physical and mechanical properties (mass, size, surface area, sphericity, true density, fruit length/width ratio, seed cavity length/width ratio, moisture content and modulus of elasticity) in order to understand this behavior during the ripening process. The attributes mass, size, surface area, sphericity of both melon types increased with the advances in the harvesting ages, whilst a reverse was found with true density, fruit length/width ratio, seed cavity length/width ratio, moisture content and modulus of elasticity. The two cultivars generally changed in similar patterns, but not at the same rate. Analysis of variance showed significant differences between the different stages in each cultivar for every attribute. A two-way ANOVA test showed significant interactions in the behavior of all the attributes between cultivars during ripening.