Short Communication ASSES SEMENT OF SUITABILITY OF BAEL FRUITS ( Aegle marmelos Corr.) FOR PROCESSING QUALITY

The present investigation was carried out to assess the suitability of bael fruits for processing quality at Post -Harvest Technology Laboratory, Department of Horticulture, University of Horticultural Sciences, GKVK, Bengaluru € 560 065. The fruits collected from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh differed significantly wit h respect to morphological characters of fruits such as colour, shape, weight, volume, Rind thickness, pulp weight and number of seeds. The chemical composition of different bael fruit genotypes showed that the total soluble solids varied from 26.70 to 34. 10o B. whereas, moisture content was 59 to 65 per cent. The pulp colour ranges from yellow to orange. Total alkaloid content varied from 0.38% in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The variability studied indicated the possibility of selecting a cultivar suita ble for processing the bael fruit.