Relationship between Sensory Quality of Oriental Sweet Melon and Its Tissue Structure，Contents of Cellulose and Pulp Pectin
QI Hong-yan，LIU Yong，YI Ning-ning，ZHANG Jian-hong
College of Horticulture，Shenyang Agricultural University，Key Laboratory of Protected Horticulture of Liaoning Province，Key Laboratory of Protected Horticulture，Ministry of Education，Shenyang 110866，Liaoning，China
Abstract：Five oriental sweet melon（Cucumis melo var. makuwa Makino）cultivars of‘Yumeiren’，‘Longtian No.3’，‘Gaotianhuangjindao’，‘Japanese Tianbao’，‘Xiangshami’were used in the experiment．We identified fruit sensory qualities，observed paraffin section and measured cellulose and water-soluble pectin content in ripe fruits．The results indicate that fruits will have good sensory qualities with smaller section and bigger superficial area in epidermal cells，their parenchyma cells transit faster，and they are of more uniform round or nearly-round shape．Moreover，the cellulose contents are between 0.24 % to 0.28 % in ripe melon fruits，and they have lower soluble pectin，which contributes to good fruit sensory quality．In conclusion，the sensory qualities of oriental sweet melon have close relationship with tissue structure，cellulose and pectin content in ripe fruits，
