Fruit enlargement during maturation

Figures 8 and 9 show the results for Hiratanenashi and Jiro fruits, respectively. The growth curves of the fruits were double-sigmoidal in shape. The fruits of Hiratanenashi and Jiro reached harvest maturity in late October or the middle of November, respectively. In Hiratanenashi, the soluble tannin concentration in the flesh gradually declined during fruit development, and was about 1.0% when the fruit reached full maturity. In Jiro, the soluble tannin concentration decreased rapidly, starting in the middle of June, and the fruit became non-astringent in September. The amount of soluble tannins per fruit increased as the fruit developed and reached a maximum at the end of the second growth stage (slow enlargement phase) in both cultivars. The amount of soluble tannins that accumulated in Jiro fruit was much less than that in Hiratanenashi fruit.

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