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Abstract
Understanding the physical characteristics of the coffee cherry (Coffea arabica L), in different states of maturity, allows defining the exact
time of harvest that produces the highest parchment coffee yields and taking provisions regarding the post-harvest management. In this
research, the following characteristics were studied: apparent density, rest angle, weight of 50 fruits, dimensions and color of epidermis of
fruits from the Colombia, Costa Rica and Oro Azteca Catimores, in three states of maturity: immature, half ripened-mature, and dry. The
results indicated that the physical properties depend on the state of maturity of the fruit, except for the rest angle where no significant
difference was observed (P>0.05). In the mass and dimensions (length and width) the dried cherries present lower values, followed
by the immature, and then the half ripened-mature. In the color of the epidermis there was a significant difference (P?0.05) between states
of maturation: luminosity (L*) was significantly higher in the immature (41.85), preceded by the half ripened-mature (L*=30.18) and the dry
(L*=24.88); the tonality (h*) was significantly lower in half ripenedmature (h*=29.84°), followed by dry (h*=56.49°) and immature
(h*=101.95°); and in purity or color saturation (C*), the significantly higher piece of data was for immature (31.35), then half ripenedmature
(24.34) and dry (7.74). The physical properties evaluated could be used for discrimination between different states of maturation with
the purpose of classification, for there is evidence of the correlation between degree of maturity and quality of the coffee cup.
