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Abstract
Research was conducted in 2007 and 2008 to assess the external coloration components in fruits of the low-chill peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] 'Tropicbeauty' grown in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. Fruits were harvested at three apparent maturity stages (AMS) (50, 70, and 90% change in ground color) and external (peel) color was determined shortly after harvesting (fruits kept at 20°C) or after storage at 0°C for two weeks followed by ripening at 20°C. Peel color was determined with a Hunter Lab-MiniScan XE spectrocolorimeter calibrated with white and black standards (X=79.8, Y=84.6, Z=90.4) in the L* a* b* uniform color space, assessing values for L* (lightness of the color), a* (green to red), b* (blue to yellow), Chroma (color saturation or intensity), and hue (red, yellow, green, blue, purple, or intermediate colors between adjacent pairs of the basic colors). Chroma values increased as AMS was higher, whereas Hue values tended to decrease as AMS increased. L* values increased slightly as AMS was higher and after storage.