This work had as objective the evaluation of sugar beets postharvest conservation under modified atmosphere and at environmental temperature (15 - 26° C). The experiment was entirely guided at a randomized design with three factorial sizes (small,, medium and large) and two packings (PVC and without packing) in three repetitions of five beets. They were appraised in the beginning and at the end of storage, for pH;Total Soluble Solids (TSS) and TotalTitration Acidity (TTA) contents. During the storage, the percentage of weight loss percentage was also appraised. It was observed that the packing reduced between in eight to ninefold the weight loss, and the small beets presented smaller weight loss than the large ones. After 14 days they were stored, the beets without packing were useless for trade due to withered advanced phase, with medium weight loss of 55%. The beets packed with PVC stayed with good appearance for 22 days of storage with medium loss weight of 15,82%. The pH, TSS and TTA contents didn’t present significant difference in packed beets, but at the 22nd day TTA was larger in small beets. On the average, pH was larger while TTA and TSS were smaller for large beets.
Beta vulgaris; postharvest; modified atmosphere
