Fruit color and texture

Five fruits from each group were used to measure fruit color and texture. Fruit color was expressed using the l*, a*, b* color space coordinates and measured with a Chroma meter (Konica Minolta, CR-400, Japan) at four symmetrical locations around the equator, as previously described [26]. Each color value was obtained from five fruits. Hue angle (H°) was calculated as H° = arctangent (b*/a*) × (180/π) to evaluate the color change. The hue angles near 120° and 0° represent pale green and red, respectively. Fruit firmness was measured by pushing a probe (5 mm diameter) into the pericarp at a speed of 1 mm·s^-1 to a depth of 12 mm using a Texture Analyzer (TA-XT2i, Stable Microsystems Texture Technologies Inc., UK). The assessment was performed at two opposite locations along the fruit equator after peeling off the epidermis. The maximum force was recorded to represent fruit firmness.