The umbuzeiro is a native Brazilian semi-arid plant with great agroindustrial potential. The characterization of the fruit, as well as the development or improvement of technologies for value aggregation are fundamental for its conservation, dissemination and culinary expansion. The objective was to characterize physically and chemically fruits of umbu and to define the access with greater commercial potential. A completely randomized design was used, with 10 replications, in a total of 4 accessions of umbuzeiro. The fruits were selected prioritizing uniformity of fruit size and maturation stage. Fruit peel color was analyzed; diameter and length; mass of the fruit, the bark, the pulp and the seed; firmness of the fruit, soluble solids contents; pH; titratable acidity and solids/acidity ratio. The values of the pulp yield and the technological index were determined. Significance was verified for all variables, except for soluble solids and pH. The average value of the titratable acidity was 1.3 mg of citric acid 100 mL-1 of juice. The diameter of the fruits varied between 4.0 and 4.5 cm. Fruit mass varied from 33.00 to 43.62 g and access to EPAMIG-C06 was the heaviest. The accesses EPAMIG-C06 and EPAMIG-C18 presented the highest technological index. Based on the results, it was concluded that the accesses present potential to the pulp industry due to the size and characteristics of the fruits. The umbu accesses under study presented small variation for solubility and pH. For in natura consumption and/or processing, the access EPAMIG-C06 stands out due to attributes of commercial interest.

Objective: To determine the ideal harvest season of ‘Prata-Anã’ banana bunches by means of physical and chemical analyses of fruit cultivation conditions in the northern state of Minas Gerais. Study Design: The employed experimental design was the completely randomized design was used in a 5x5 factorial scheme, with five bunch ages and five assessment days. Study Location and Duration: The experiment was run in an area with banana trees planted 20 months beforehand, located at Unimontes’s Experimental Farm, at 530 m of altitude, with coordinates being -15°43’46.99” south latitude and -43°19’17.61”west longitude, between April and November 2017. Methodology: The bananas bunches the were marked weekly from April 14 to May 12, and week days were standardized for each marking. Five bunch ages were defined – 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 weeks after inflorescence emission – for harvest. For differentiation of emerged bunches, tapes of different color were used. When the bunches marked in the first week completed 20 weeks, all bunches were harvested, which happened on September 1. After harvested the fruits were subjected to storage in refrigerated chamber at 10°C ± 1°C and relative humidity of 90% +5% for 25 days. After being stored for 25 days, the bananas were taken out of the chamber and exposed to a room temperature of 25°C, which analyzes were performed for 9 days, with a two-day interval in between, simulating the marketing period. The following analyses were carried out: Firmness, peel color, soluble solids, pH, titratable acidity, amide, total sugars, reducing sugars and electrolyte extravasation. Results: Lower hue, chroma, soluble solids, titratable acidity, total sugar, reducing sugar and electrolyte extravasation values were found for bananas harvested at 16 weeks. Conclusion: Bunch harvest age had a direct influence on post-harvest quality of bananas ‘Prata-Anã’. Fruits from 16-week bunches were superior in physical and chemical characteristics compared to other ages, meaning a longer post-harvest life.

Banana as a climacteric fruit has a relatively short shelf-life period and thus, technologies that decrease the metabolism and the triggering of the maturation process are extremely necessary on its postharvest conservation. However, the consequences of these technologies on quality attributes are unknown. Therefore, we evaluate the effects of 1-Methylcyclopropene associated with low density polyethylene bags on physical and chemical attributes in the postharvest of banana fruits. Bananas were treated with different concentration of 1-Methylcyclopropene as 0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 ηL.L-1 under refrigeration and harvest in five different times after treatment. Further, fruits treated with 50 ŋL.L-¹ showed a more advanced stage of ripening after the 25 days of storage. Altogether, our results suggest 1-MCP is an effective treatment to control sugar and starch metabolism in banana and its efficiency is directly dependent of storage temperature. Additionally we identify interestingly correlation with skin color changes with sugars and starch content, which can indicate its potentiality of the fitted equations for prediction of central metabolism of bananas non-destructively using ‘hue angle and chrome’ value.

Aims: The study objective was to determine the harvest point of red pitaya produced in the north of Minas Gerais, Brazil, according to physical and chemical changes during refrigerated storage. Study Design: The experiment was conducted through a completely randomized design in a 3 x 5 factorial scheme composed of three treatments (ripening stages) and five post-harvest assessment days (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20), with four repeats of four fruits per experimental unit. Study Place and Duration: The experiment was conducted in a cold chamber at the State University of Montes Claros, Brazil, between July and August 2018. Methodology: The following quality parameters were assessed: fruit fresh mass, length and diameter at harvest point, color, firmness, soluble solid content, titratable acidity, total sugars, reducing and non-reducing, pH and amide, during storage. Results: There was no significant difference for fresh mass, length and diameter as a function of ripening stages. Ripening stages 2 and 3 presented higher soluble solid content means. Conclusion: Considering the conditions of northern Minas Gerais, harvest should happen at stages 2 or 3, when fruits have a brighter red hue, that is, are more attractive and of easier identification by producers. In addition, pitayas at these stages have higher soluble solid contents and reduced pulp acidity during storage in relation to fruits harvested at S1.

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O processo de desertificação decorre de mudanças climáticas e de ações antrópicas resultante do uso inadequado do solo na pecuária, agricultura, mineração, irrigação e pastoreio, definido como a o degaste do solo em áreas, semiáridas e subúmidas secas” (BRASIL, 1996,).

In Brazil, the prickly pear has been gaining more and more attention, mainly due to its nutritional health promotion benefits. However, its postharvest conservation is still incipient The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of cassava starch in different concentrations in relation to quality preservation and postharvest shelf life prolongation of prickly pear stored at 10 °C and relative humidity of 95%. Fruit were harvested at maturation stage III, in plants with 8 years of age, in the municipality of Janaúba - MG. Then they were selected, sanitized and immersed in sulutions of cassava starch at 0; 1; 2 and 3% for 1 minute and stored at 10 ± 1 ◦C and relative humidity of 95 ± 5%, for 25 days, and evaluated every five days. The designed trial consisted of a completely randomized trial, in a 4x6 factorial scheme: four concentrations of cassava starch and six periods of evaluations (0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 days), with four replications. Fruit were evaluated for physical, chemical and nutritional characteristics. During storage were observed weight loss, firmness loss, chlorophyll degradation, acidity reduction and ascorbic acid, with increase of soluble solids, total sugars and carotenoids in fruit. The higher the cassava starch concentration, the greater the maintenance of fruit quality. The 3% cassava starch coating was the most efficient at delaying the weight loss, decay, softening and wilting in the fruits, the main characteristics that affect the quality of prickly pear. However, this concentration presented, as an inconvenience, coating peeling at the end of storage.

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