Avocado contains fat-soluble vitamins that in general other fruits do not contain. Avocado fruits were picked and 100 uniform specimens were selected, of which 25 were used as a control group to evaluate weight loss, and 75 were used for destructive analysis. Every 4 days 25 fruits were evaluated for texture, total soluble solids and pH. Five treatments were used to protect fruits: control; "Fruit wax"/wax 1:1 (FW1) and "Fruit wax"/wax 1:3 (FW2); "Sparcitrus/wax 1:1 (SP1) and "Sparcitrus/wax 1:3 (SP2). At the fourth storage day there was no statistical difference among the values of weight loss, however at the twelfth day, treatment SP1 was the best, with a smaller weight loss. There was no statistical difference among texture values as well as for storage day, the values however decrease during storage. Total soluble solids did not increase with storage time, until the twelfth storage day, when FR2 values were higher than those of SP1. There was no statistical difference among pH values for storage days, however for all treatments after the fourth storage day, the values decreased, with the exception of the SP1 treatment.
Persea americana; preservation; fisiology; fruit
