The banana is a climacteric fruit with a limited shelf life in the environment and sensitive to storage under refrigeration, necessitating strategies to improve its post harvest conservation. In this sense, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of post harvest technologies on the quality and the prolongation of the useful life of 'Maçã' bananas during storage in ambient temperature condition (25 ºC). The fruits were obtained in physiological maturity in the green color and immersed in the following solutions: distilled water (control), cassava starch, maize starch and 3% calcium chloride for three minutes in addition to the sachets containing 3g KMnO4 for one period of 12 days in ambient condition. The evaluations took place every three days in terms of loss of fresh weight, firmness of peel, starch content, soluble solids, titratable acidity, pH, SS/AT ratio and incidence of rot. The postharvest treatments extended the shelf life of the fruits for 12 days in relation to the nine days of the control treatment. Among the evaluated technologies, the use of sachets of KMnO4 delayed ripening by observing fruits with higher green retention of the peel and pulp firmness, as well as lower fresh mass loss, starch degradation, soluble solids synthesis, ratio SS/AT and incidence of rot during the storage period. Thus, the ethylene absorber based on KMnO4 represents a viable alternative for the preservation of the quality of 'Maçã' bananas during commercialization at room temperature.

A seriguela é um fruto tropical que desponta entre as espécies do gênero Spondias como de melhor qualidade e aceitação pelo consumidor, contudo a sua vida útil in natura é muito curta sendo necessário o uso de tecnologias para a manutenção de suas propriedades qualitativas após a colheita. Assim, o presente trabalho objetiva avaliar os efeitos da radiação no espectro UV-C sobre o controle do amadurecimento e as propriedades qualitativas durante o armazenamento refrigerado. O delineamento experimental adotado foi inteiramente casualizado arranjados em um esquema fatorial 3x5 (três doses de radiação UV-C: 0, 2 e 4 kJ/m2) e (cinco tempos de avaliação: 0, 3, 6, 9 e 12 dias) com cinco repetições. Os frutos foram mantidos a 25°C e avaliados quanto a perda de massa fresca, firmeza da polpa, coloração da casca, sólidos solúveis totais, acidez total titulável, pH, teor de ácido ascórbico, compostos fenólicos e atividade antioxidante. A utilização da radiação atrasou o processo de maturação principalmente sobre a manutenção da cor amarela ao longo dos dias, além de menor degradação dos sólidos solúveis, teor de vitamina C, ácidos orgânicos e dos compostos bioativos. A dose de 2 kJ/m2 manteve a qualidade comercial dos frutos por até 9 dias.Palavras-chave: Spondias purpurea L., fruto tropical, características qualitativas, compostos bioativos. DELAY MATURATION AND POST-HARVEST QUALITY OF SERIGUELA EXPOSED BY ULTRAVIOLET IRRADIATION ABSTRACT:The seriguela is a tropical fruit that emerges among the species of the genus Spondias as of better quality and acceptance by the consumer, however its useful life in natura is very short, being necessary the use of technologies for the maintenance of its qualitative properties after the harvest. Thus, the present work aims to evaluate the effects of radiation in the UV-C spectrum on maturation control and qualitative properties during refrigerated storage. The experimental design was completely randomized, arranged in a 3x5 factorial scheme (three doses of UV-C radiation: 0, 2 and 4 kJ/m2) and (five evaluation times: 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 days) with five replicates. The fruits were kept at 25 ° C and evaluated for loss of fresh mass, pulp firmness, peel color, total soluble solids, titratable total acidity, pH, ascorbic acid content, phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity. The use of the radiation delayed the maturation process mainly on the maintenance of the yellow color throughout the days, besides lower degradation of the soluble solids, content of vitamin C, organic acids and the bioactive compounds. The dose of 2 kJ / m2 maintained the commercial quality of the fruits for up to 9 days.Keywords: Spondias purpurea L., tropical fruit, qualitative characteristics, bioactive compounds. DOI:

The ripening pattern of the climacteric type of the pinha (Anona squamosa L.) limits its shelf life at room temperature, in addition, storage at low temperatures develops cold sores on the fruit. Thus, the association of conservation technologies is fundamental to reduce the losses in the post-harvest of this fruit, so it was aimed to evaluate sachets impregnated with potassium permanganate (KMnO4) associated with refrigeration in the control of ripening and preservation of quality. For this, pinhas were harvested at physiological maturity, packed in polystyrene styrofoam trays coated with PVC film with and without the presence of sachets containing 3 g of KMnO4 and stored at 13 ºC for 20 days. Every five days the fruit quality was evaluated as: weight loss, cracking index, firmness, external appearance, starch content, soluble solids, titratable acidity, pH, ratio SS/TA, coloring (Hue, Chroma and Luminosity) and cold damage. The absorption of ethylene by the KMnO4 sachet inside the packages preserved significantly (p<0.05) the physical-chemical quality and the visual appearance of the fruits but did not influence the coloration (chroma and luminosity) and incidence of damage by cold in relation to its control at the end of the storage period. The packing of pinhas containing 3 g of KMnO4 is an alternative to delay ripening, prolong the shelf life without compromising the physical-chemical quality of the fruits.

The ripening of soursop is marked by significant changes in the firmness of the fruit, with pulp softening being the main cause of quantitative and qualitative losses during commercialization. To minimize this problem, fruits of the 'Morada' soursop were immersed in solutions of distilled water (control), beeswax (3%), CaCl2 (3%) and the combination of beeswax + 3% CaCl2 for a period minutes and then stored at 15ºC for 16 days. Analyzes of physical-chemical and biochemical quality were investigated at four-day intervals. Considering the immersion solutions using isolated beeswax (3%) and CaCl2 (3%) resulted in satisfactory quality aspects in relation to the control, but it is in the combined use (beeswax + 3% CaCl2) that results were observed significant (p<0.05) such as less loss of fresh weight (6.93%), greater firmness (32.18 N), better balance of soluble solids (11.98ºBrix), titratable acidity (0.82 g. 100 g-1 citric acid), SS / AT (14.60), pH(5.58) and less degradation of starch (8.98 g.100g-1) and total pectin (0.25 g.100g-1), in addition to less activity of the enzymes amylase, pectinamethylesterase and polygalacturonase in relation to the other treatments, especially the control. These results indicate that the combined use of 3% beeswax + 3% CaCl2 preserves the physical-chemical quality and firmness of the pulp by reducing the activity of enzymes associated with the cell wall, thus suggesting a delay in fruit ripening.