Abstract:
A study was conducted at Jimma (southwest Ethiopia) to develop simple method
of estimating the optimum harvest time of fruits of six avocado cultivars. Fruit
samples were collected six, seven, eight and nine months after flowering. At
each harvest, physical measurements of the fruit samples were recorded and the
fruit length-to-width ratio (L w-1), fruit weight-to-length ratio
(m L-1) and equivalent diameter (d) were determined. The fruit samples
were then allowed to ripe at ambient conditions. The dry matter and oil contents
of the juice made from the ripe fruits were determined at each harvest date
for respective cultivars. Oil content was highly significantly (p<0.001)
influenced by the cultivars and harvesting dates compared. Dry matter content
of fruits significantly differed among cultivars (p<0.05) and harvesting
dates (p<0.01). Increased oil and dry matter contents were observed towards
the later harvest dates. The cultivar Bacon recorded the highest mean oil content
(