| dc.description.abstract | Mango fruits are widely grown in Kenya for domestic and export utilization. Selected
chemical and nutritive quality attributes of Apple, Ngowe and Kent were evaluated at three
stages of ripeness. The cultivars were obtained at the unripe stage from Lower Eastern
Province (Kitui and Machakos) of Kenya. Total titratable acidity (TTA), vitamin C, and
crude fiber decreased with ripeness, whereas total soluble solids (TSS), TSS/TTA, β-
carotene, crude fat, crude protein, fructose, glucose, and sucrose increased with increasing
ripeness. The Apple varieties showed superior quality attributes in terms of low TTA of
0.04%, higher TSS of ≥19.50 ºBrix at ripe stage. It registered the highest vitamin C content
of 109.35mg/100g (FW) at the unripe stage, lowest moisture content of 79.96% and highest
dry matter of 20.04% both at their ripe stages. It also recorded the highest crude fiber
content (0.89%) at its unripe stage and had highest crude fat content (0.11%) at its ripe stage
compared to other varieties at the same stages of ripeness. The Kent varieties scored lowest
in TSS (6.50ºBrix), vitamin C content at all stages, moderately high moisture content and
lowest dry matter at their intermediate stage, lowest crude protein at unripe stage, and
lowest in fructose of 8.54 mg/ml. Kent variety fromKitui zone also scored poorly in
TSS/TTA ratio of 16.67 and had the lowest content in β-carotene at their unripe stage. It
had the highest moisture content of 86.32% and the least dry matter of 13.68%. This variety also had low content of crude protein at their unripe stage of 0.02%. Ngowe fruit from the two zones scored moderately at the three stages of ripeness on most of the attributes evaluated. The results indicated that Apple mango variety is the most promising for both fresh consumption and processing purposes as it scored highly in most of the chemical and nutritional quality attributes analyzed. | en_US |
