KAJIAN STANDAR MUTU BUAH PAMELO UNGGUL VARIETAS NAMBANGAN

Abstract

Indonesian National Standard for pummelo currently is not available yet. Pummelo variety Nambangan is an
Indonesia’s improved pummelo which is produced and marketed most. This paper aim at assessing the quality of
pummelo variety Nambangan to serve as a basis for developing Indonesian National Standard of pummelo and
as a guidelines for quality oriented pummelo production. This assessment was conducted at 10 Magetan District
pummelo farms and at Indonesian Citrus and Subtropical Fruits Research Institute. Physical properties of
pummelo fruits, such as fruit weigh, diameter, variety characters similarity and organoleptic properties according
to market requirements were observed in addition to secondary data collected from merchants, Magetan
Pummelos Association, exporters and corresponding quality standards from Codex Alimentarius Commission.
The results indicated that Nambangan pummelo had a good quality and confermed to corresponding Codex
standard. The specific traits of Nambangan pummelo which comply with market requirements are its sweet and
sour taste, TSS value > 10 °Brix, less seed or even seedless in some cases and pink to red pulp colour. Despite
good taste quality, its fruit physical appearance was still highly varied therefore its improvement is definitely
required. Some quality variables that deserve a serious attention are skin defect which is still too high i.e. 10-40%
as compared to only 11,4% of export and retail standards, and fruit weight which range from 700-2400 g with the
average of 1262 g. The modus (highest proportion of fruit weight i.e. 24% of them) was laid between 1000-1300 g
which fall in Grade C or Small of Magetan Pummelo Association Standard. The areas of improvement could be
fruit production techniques particulary fertilizer application, fruit thinning and optimum harvest time determination.