Among the techniques used to maintain the post-harvest quality of fruits, stands out the application of calcium, usually associated to the refrigeration. However, not all the producers have access to cold cameras, therefore it was aimed at in this work, to evaluate the isolated treatment with calcium chloride in the maintenance of the appearance of guavas (Psidium guajava L.) destined to the consumption “in nature”, stored in environmental conditions. The hydrothermical treatment at the temperature of 30ºC, with calcium chloride 1g/100 mL, was tested comparing with fruits without treatment. Soon after the fruits were stored under environmental conditions (22,6ºC (±1), UR 75% (±5) for four days. After the storage, the contents of total and soluble pectin and the pectinametilesterase and poligalacturonase activities were evaluated. The employment of calcium affected the analyzed characteristics providing smaller content of soluble pectin and lower activities of pectinametilesterase and poligalacturonase, promoting a less intense softening, maintaining the firmness of the fruits during the storage period.
guava; calcium; softening; pectin methyl esterase; polygalacturonase; Psidium guajava