Thermal conductivity measurement technique vis-a-vis quality of fruit

A simple probe for thermal conductivity measurement was developed in-house that was cheap, compact, easy-to-handle, required less time and small amount of sample for measurement. The thermal conductivities of fruits (banana, apple and papaya) were measured. Bananas of three different stages of ripening (unripe, ripe and over ripe) were selected and their conductivities were found to be 0.485, 0.51 and 0.524 W/m degreesC, respectively. Textures of these samples were determined using a Texturometer, which showed that as the degree of ripening increased, the texture of fruit became soft and the conductivity increased. A correlation between degree of maturity, conductivity and texture of banana was observed and this could be extended to other fruits and vegetables.