Physicochemical and Phytochemical Properties of MD2 Pineapple

MD2 pineapple is one of the most popular pineapples because of its sweetness. The sweetness of the MD2 pineapple varies depending on the geographical location and cultivation technique, fruit parts, and maturity at harvest. This study focuses on the effect of maturity at harvest and the fruit parts used on the physicochemical and phytochemical properties of the MD2 pineapple. The pineapples were harvested at three different maturity stages, i.e. mature-green, ripe (50% yellow peel), and over ripe (100% yellow peel). Then, each pineapple was cut horizontally to obtain three different parts of the pineapple, namely the top, middle, and bottom and the juice was extracted from each part. The volume recovery percentage, total soluble solids (TSS), and pH were found to increase for each part from mature-green to overripe except for titratable acidity (TA) which decreases. Total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) were found to increase from mature-green to ripe but decrease from ripe to over ripe fruit. The proteolytic activity increases, while vitamin C content decreases with fruit maturity. The total protein was found to be not significantly affected by fruit maturity. TSS, pH, and proteolytic activity show an increasing trend from the top to the bottom of the pineapple, while TA and vitamin C content show the opposite trend. The middle and bottom parts of the pineapple were found to have the highest proteolytic activity.