Post-harvest quality of potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) in response to hydrothermal treatment

Abstract

The efficiency of hydrothermal treatment for the control of several bacterial diseases has been reported in some studies, but there are a lack of results on post-harvest changes resulting from this treatment. The objective of this work was to evaluate the post-harvest quality of potatoes submitted treated via hot water immersion. Potato tubers of the cultivar Ágata were immersed in 40, 50, 60, or 70ºC water for 1, 6, 11 and 21 minutes and evaluated for firmness of pulp (F), soluble solids (SS), pH, titratable acidity (AT), total soluble sugars (AST), reducing sugars (RA), non-reducing sugars (ANR), and starches at 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20 days of storage. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design. The means corresponding to the factors in question were analyzed using the Dunnett test (5%). It was possible to conclude that all hydrothermal treatments used here altered the acidity of the tubers. The treatments at 40°C at all immersion times; 50°C for 1, 6 and 11 minutes; and 60°C for 1 and 6 minutes provided a longer post-harvest tuber life.