In Colombia, the small and médium farmers are responsible for the production of nearly 45.000 t yr-1 of lulo (Solanum quitoense). However adequate and easy techniques for postharvest handling are not often available to be implemented by this sector of the producers. This research aimed to study banana (Musa paradisiaca) leaf as primary packaging to minimize the loss of quality of lulo stored at different temperatures. Chemical and physiological quality parameters were considered in the analysis of the maturation process. Loss weight, color changes in CIELAB coordinates, total titratable acidity (TTA), Young's modulus and firmness were measured to represent the fruit quality. Use of banana leaf as primary package show that weight losses and the color changes result of the ripening process were decreased. The color changes of lulo skin were significantly affected by storage temperature. To avoid changes in TTA, mechanical damage is not recommended. When the lulo fruits were packed with banana leaves, the Young's modulus and firmness values was higher. The results of this research allow the comparison of quality of lulo in the packaging proposal and the results of others researchers who use conventionally packaging like wood crates and carton packaging. The proposal packaging configuration (lulos packed with banana leaf in plastic crates of 80x60x20 cm) is an easy alternative to get and preserve the quality of lulo fruits for a longer storage time.

Técnicas como la espectroscopía de infrarrojo cercano (NIR) se pueden utilizar para identificarlas clases y propiedades de los suelos con buena precisión. El objetivo de este estudio fue calibrar modelos para predecir el contenido de arcilla, limo y arena de un Typic Hapludox por espectroscopia NIR. El estudio se realizó en la Estación Experimental de Carimagua situado en el municipio de Puerto Gaitán, Meta, Colombia. Se utilizó un diseño de red rígida, se tomaron 1200 muestras en una superficie aproximada de 5100 ha. La elaboración de los modelos se hizo mediante regresión por mínimos cuadrados parciales. Se obtuvieron modelos con baja representatividad para contenidos de arena y limo, con valores de R2 (0.41 y 0.34, respectivamente). El modelo para el contenido de arcilla mostró un alto R2 (0.76). Para la arcilla fue posible la elaboración de mapas digitales y espectro-digitales similares. Los resultados encontrados para el contenido de arcilla indican que los análisis de laboratorio se pueden sustituir, en gran parte, por los modelos espectrales. En el caso de la arena y el limo, sería conveniente mejorar el modelo para que, en el futuro, los análisis de laboratorio puedan ser sustituidos para esta clase de suelo.

The importance of the selection and classification processes in the industry of agricultural products and the increase in the production of fruits make necessary the development and implementation of new techniques to efficiently perform these tasks. Techniques such as NIR spectroscopy have proved to have potential to accomplish this purpose. The aim of this research was to evaluate the performance of near infrared spectroscopy as a classification tool for agraz (Vaccinium meridionale Swartz), according to its state of maturity. In order to obtainthe classification models, the PCA and SIMCA methods were used. Results were obtained close to 100% accuracy in the classification for maturity stages 4 and 5 and between 81 and 90% for maturity stage 3. The NIR spectroscopy appears as a suitable technique for the classification of fruits of agraz according to their state of maturity.