The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of climatization on standardization of 'Prata-Anã' bananas cultivated in Boa Vista, Roraima. After harvested, fruits were selected in the shape of bouquets, sanitized, conditioned by muffling with plastic sheeting or by immersion in a Ethrel® solution, packed with low density polyethylene and stored for four time periods (0, 10, 20 and 30 days) at 12 ± 1 °C and 93 ± 2% RH. After each period of cold storage (CS), the fruits were taken out of refrigerator and submitted to the ambient condition (22 ± 1ºC and 75 ± 3% R.H.), removed from the plastic bags and analyzed after 1, 2, 3 and 4 days after each period of cold storage. The following analysis were performed: loss of fresh weight, peel color, CO2/ethylene production inside the bags, enzymatic activity of polygalacturonase (PG) and of pectin methyl esterase (PE), titratable acidity (TA), total and soluble pectin content, starch content and soluble solids (SS). There were no significant differences between the methods of climatization, but it was found that as longer the period of cold storage and climatization, as lower was the shelf-life of the 'Prata-Anã' bananas. It was also shown that climatization, regardless of the method applied, must be held within 20 days after harvest, when the fruits are submitted to the CS conditions here tested. In these conditions, it was possible to maintain sensory quality of bananas for at least 3 days after removal the fruits from the cold storage.
Cold storage; conditioning air; Musa sp.; postharvest
