Abstract

LIMA, Maria Auxiliadora Coêlho de; ALVES, Ricardo Elesbão; FILGUEIRAS, Heloísa Almeida Cunha  and  LIMA, José Robson Gurgel. The ouse of wax and 1-methylcyclopropene on refrigerated storage of soursop fruit (Annona muricata L.). Rev. Bras. Frutic. [online]. 2004, vol.26, n.3, pp. 433-437. ISSN 0100-2945.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0100-29452004000300015.

Fruits of soursop 'Morada' from plants of a commercial area, located in Limoeiro do Norte, Ceara State, Brazil, were harvested at the physiological maturity stage with the objective of evaluating the effect of postharvest application of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) and wax on conservation during refrigerated storage. Fruits were stored for 0, 4, 8, 11, 13 and 15 days under 15.4±1.1ºC and 86.0±7.3% RH. Postharvest treatments were as follow: control, 200 nL L^-1 of 1-MCP (SmartFresh™), Fruit wax® sprayed on fruits, and Fruit wax® sprayed on fruits followed by application of 200 nL L^-1 of 1-MCP. The experimental design was completely randomized, with a 4x6 (postharvest treatment x storage time) factorial and four replicates. The following variables were evaluated: skin and pulp color according to luminosity (L), chromaticity (C) and color angle (Hº); mass loss; pH; titratable acidity (TA); total soluble solids (TSS); total soluble sugars (TS) and reducing sugars (RS). Wax and wax+1-MCP kept stabilized the L values for skin and pulp, until the 8^th and the 4^th day of storage, respectively. The increasing in TSS was temporarily delayed by postharvest treatments. The TA, pH, TS and RS were not influenced by wax and 1-MCP. The use of wax reduced the mass loss in 23% compared to the control.

Keywords : 1-methylcyclopropene; anonaceae; storage; wax; postharvest conservation; fruit quality.