Fruit dehydration is a way of supplying the population with healthy and nutritious foods. The shelf life of dried fruit can be defined by the evaluation of changes occurred in chemical characteristics during storage. This study aims to evaluate the sensory quality and the stability of papaya cv. Tainung n˚ 1 dehydrated by convective drying. Fresh and dried papaya were evaluated for color, moisture, pH, acidity, water activity, soluble solids, vitamin C, carotenoids, total extractable polyphenols (TEP) and antioxidant activity (ABTS). The sensorial acceptance of the dried papaya was evaluated using a structured nine-point hedonic scale. For the stability study, the analysis of moisture, pH, titratable acidity, water activity, total carotenoids and vitamin C were carried out every 30 days of storage until 120 days. During storage, the moisture content of dried papaya remained constant, but there were undesirable changes in color, increase of acidity and reduction of soluble solids. The degradation of total carotenoids and vitamin C followed the first order reaction, and the half-life time was 346 days for carotenoids, whereas for vitamin C it was only 29 days. In the sensory analysis, the dried papaya received grades between 5.0 and 6.0 for all evaluated attributes. Dried papaya is recommended to be consumed up to 30 days, since within this period a product with higher total carotenoids content, vitamin C and with satisfactory physicochemical and sensorial characteristics were obtained.

INTRODUÇÃOO mamoeiro (Carica Papaya L.) é uma das fruteiras mais cultivadas e consumidas nas regiões tropicais e subtropicais do mundo. Com produção anual mundial de aproximadamente 12,4 milhões ABSTRACT RESUMOde toneladas, seus principais produtores são a Índia, Brasil, República Dominicana e Nigéria (FAO 2013 Physical-chemical and sensorial evaluation of improved genotypes of papaya fruitsThe sustainability and expansion of the papaya crop depends on the development of genotypes with superior quality to satisfy the demands of farmers. This study aimed at evaluating the physicalchemical and sensorial characteristics of papaya fruits in order to identify new genotypes with potential for the market. Fruits from improved genotypes of the Solo (L60, L47-05, L47-08 and H54.78) and Formosa (L33 and H36.45) groups, as well as the commercial varieties Tainung nº 1 and Sunrise Solo were evaluated. Analyses of pulp yield, weight, length, diameter (fruit and internal cavity), pulp firmness and color, besides sensorial evaluation, were performed. The L47-05 and L47-08 breeding lines from the Solo group had the highest values for fruit weight (838.30 g and 803.94 g, respectively) and firmness (8.35 kgf cm -2 and 7.74 kgf cm -2 , respectively), showing to be more resistant to mechanical damage. The Tainung nº 1 cultivar presented the highest values for weight (842.77 g), length (20.76 cm) and diameter (9.70 cm). Genotypes from the Solo group (L47-05, L47-08 and H54.78) and the Sunrise Solo control showed soluble solids content above 14 ºBrix. The sensory acceptance of the H54.78 hybrid was statistically equal to the Sunrise Solo control for all assessed sensory attributes. The H36.45 and L33 genotypes (Formosa group) were also statistically equal to the Tainung nº 1 control for all assessed sensory attributes. Based on fruit quality, the H54.78 (Solo group) and the H36-45 and L33 (Formosa group) genotypes are the most promising for the market and can compete with the Sunrise Solo and Tainung nº 1 commercial cultivars.

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