Fig. 1

Phenotypic data of the C. melo fruits at four stages. a Fruit pressure test showed a fast decrease of melon fruit firmness from stage G to P. b Soluble solids content progressively increased from stage G to C. c Post-harvest respiration rate of melon fruit. The fruit were harvested 36 days after anthesis, and the respiration rate was measured at 2 h intervals for 48 h. Samples from three replicate C stage fruit were collected at 20 h and 22 h after harvest (at these time points the respiration rate curve peaked at 0.25–0.28 CO₂ ppm/min/g). Samples from P stage fruit were collected after measurement of respiration rate for 48 h. The horizontal axis represents measurement time (hours), and the vertical axis represents the respiration rate (CO₂ ppm/min/g). Red lines indicate C stage samples, and blue lines represent P stage samples