Evaluating the maturity of peach fruit is desirable during both the preharvest and postharvest periods, and flesh firmness (FF) is a representative maturity index. Although a non-destructive FF measurement technique using visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has been developed, the principle has been unclear. This study was conducted to examine the structure of the FF prediction model by comparing with that of the model for measuring water-soluble pectin (WSP) content. Those two prediction models have the same information regions related to the colors of pericarp and mesocarp (chlorophyll) and to a water band in the NIR region. Moreover, a statistical heterospectroscopy analysis between NIR and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra suggests the possibility that absorptions of methanol and succinate as well as galacturonic acid embedded in a water band play important roles in predicting FF. This approach would enhance the reliability of nondestructive VIS-NIR prediction models in many practical situations.
Keywords: Analytical chemistry; Food science.