Grupo de Postrecolección y Refrigeración, UPCT. Asociación Iberoamericana de Tecnología Postcosecha
Abstract
deastringency process using high CO2 concentrations on ‘Rama Forte’ persimmon within
pallet covers under ambient and refrigerated conditions. The CO2 treatment for orange
persimmons in cardboard boxes is to completely enclose pallet loads of fruits in sealed LDPE
bags (90 μm), pull a slight vacuum, then add CO2 to create a 70 – 90 kPa CO2 atmosphere
within the bag and around the fruit. Two pallets were hold at 20oC for 5 days and two others
were kept at 1oC for 21 days. After these periods of time, the LDPE films were removed and
the fruits were left at 25oC. Periodically, boxes from the bottom, middle and top layers of
each pallet were sorted for the following analysis: astringency index, firmness, soluble solids
and peel color were evaluated. The experimental design was a factorial 2x3, with 10 replicates
by plot. The results showed that high CO2 atmosphere (70 – 90 kPa) for 5 days at 20ºC
promoted both the astringency removal and the maintenance of the fruit firmness. High CO2
concentrations at 1oC for 21 days were equally efficient in the astringency removal of the
fruits but it caused uneven ripening and peel browning occasionally, impairing its use.FAPESP – Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, pelo auxílio financeiro (processo n.2003/06445-2). AIR LIQUIDE BRASIL LTDA