Avocados (Persea americana Mill.) are a climacteric fruit which ripen until after 22 harvesting, and their ripeness is an important quality attribute that determines consumer 23 liking. In this study, the ripening degree of 'Hass' avocados was evaluated non-24 destructively by measuring the skin and flesh using the fluorescence fingerprint (FF). 25 FF, also known as the Excitation emission matrix (EEM), is a set of fluorescence 26 spectra obtained at consecutive excitation wavelengths. It was found that as ripening 27 progressed, the fluorescence signal of chlorophyll A in the skin and flesh decreased 28 significantly as the hardness of the avocado flesh decreased. The hardness value was 29 estimated from the FFs of the skin and flesh using partial least-squares regression, and 30 minimum prediction errors of 2.02 N cm -2 and 2.05 N cm -2 were obtained for the 31 prediction models using FFs of the flesh and skin, respectively. Furthermore, ripeness 32 levels (unripe, ripe, and over ripe) were discriminated non-destructively from the FFs of 33 the skin with an accuracy of 90% for the validation dataset. The measurement and 34 analysis technique demonstrated in this study is rapid and accurate, and can contribute 35 to supplying uniform agricultural products to consumers. 36 37 Keywords: 38 Excitation emission matrix (EEM); Partial least-squares regression; discrimination 39 analysis; texture measurement; polyphenol oxidase Avocados (Persea americana Mill.) are a climacteric fruit that ripens after harvesting. 42Maturation of the fruit occurs while the fruit is on the tree, and maturation is characterized 43 by an increase in the fat content and a concurrent decrease in the water content (Clark et 44 al. 2007). Interestingly, the avocado fruit does not ripen while it is on the tree and remains 45 green and hard (Paliyath et al. 2008). After harvesting, ripening occurs, characterized by 46 a change in color (green to black or purple, especially for the 'Hass' variety) and softening 47 of the flesh. 48Although there have been many reports on predicting the maturity of avocado fruit 49 non-destructively, as reviewed by Magwaza and Tesfay (2015), there have been fewer 50 reports on monitoring avocado ripeness after their harvest. Gaete-Garretón et al. (2005) 51 applied ultrasonic methods to assess avocado ripeness and showed that the adsorption 52 coefficient had a strong correlation with firmness, but this correlation was only obtained 53 from the average values of 15 fruit. Cox et al. (2004) showed that the avocado skin color 54 changes during ripening owing to a decrease in chlorophyll and an increase in 55 anthocyanins, more specifically, cyanidin-3-gluocoside. Color changes in the skin are and Technology 112: [31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]