METHOD OF MEASURING RIPENESS AND TEXTURE OF VEGETABLE OR FRUIT AND MEASURING INSTRUMENT

摘要

Vibration the frequency of which varies in order is applied to a fruit. The vibration applied and the vibration of the fruit are measured. By analyzing the frequencies, the characteristics of the transfer function of the fruit are found, and the weight of the fruit is measured. The damping ratio (f2-f1)/f0 where f0 is the secondary resonance frequency, and f2 and f1 are the frequencies at which the intensities are 3 dB lower than the peak value at f0, the elastic modulus E defined by m<2/3>.f0<2>, and the viscosity coefficient c defined by k.f0.m. eta are found by calculation. The ripeness and texture are determined from the viscosity coefficient c and the elastic modulus E.