POST-HARVEST QUALITY OF FRESH PITOMBAS SUBMITTED TO DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES AND PACKAGES

Resumo

The aim was to assess the effect of different temperatures and packages on the post-harvest attributes of fresh pitomba during the storage period. Tested temperatures were 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14±1 °C at 75 ± 5% relative humidity, while packages were polypropylene (PP), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) + expanded polystyrene (EPS), as well as no packaging (control). Fruits were assessed for 12 days, with three replications with 10 fruits each. Thus, the design used was completely randomized in a 5 x 5 x 7 factorial scheme (5 temperatures x 5 packages x 7 days of analysis). The associated effect of storage at 6 °C associated with LDPE packaging can be recommended to store pitombas for 12 days, as it presents low weight loss. In addition, the temperature of 14 °C can also be used, as fruits showed high values of bioactive compounds.