To assess the effects of immersion temperature on the maintenance of postharvest quality of passion fruit, an experiment was installed in FCA/UNESP. It was composed of seven treatments: T1 (control), T2 (35°C for 2 hours), T3 (35°C for 4 hours), T4 (43°C for 2 hours), T5 (43°C for 4 hours), T6 (53°C for 2 hours), T7 (53°C for 4 hours). The fruits were maintained in BOD chambers at 12 ± 1°C and 80-90% RH. Samples of each treatment were collected every other three days. It was analyzed: Destructive group - pH, firmness, soluble solids (SS), titratable acidity (TA), ratio (SS/TA), pulp yield and vitamin C, as well as mass loss and peel color were determined for the control group. According to the results, lower temperatures treatments, such as T2 and T3, showed fruit with less mass loss, best color maintenance, good firmness maintenance and reasonable vitamin C content. Whereas higher temperatures caused damages to the appearance of the fruit (burned peels) and reduced vitamin C content in the pulp.
conservation; temperature; Passiflora edulis Sims f. flavicarpa Deg
