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With the objective of shipping squash fruit during the winter season, which constitutes the off-season for domestically grown squash fruit, we aimed to develop storage techniques that mitigate the softening of squash fruit mesocarp that typically occurs during prolonged storage. Utilizing near-infrared spectroscopic analysis to sort squash fruit based on dry matter immediately after harvest proved to be efficacious in limiting mesocarp softening. Through this approach, fruits with a dry matter ratio of 30 % (w/w) or higher, when stored at 10 °C, demonstrated the ability to maintain their mealy texture even after a 2-month storage period. Furthermore, employing a highly mealy cultivar and storing it at a temperature of approximately 10 °C enabled the preservation of the mealy texture for over 2 months, eliminating the necessity for screening based on dry matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]