Avaliação da qualidade pós-colheita em maçãs minimamente processadas

Abstract

In recent years, the food market has undergone changes, such as the emergence of new demands, one of which is the demand for minimally processed fruits and vegetables. Thus, minimally processed apples need techniques to maintain fruit quality during conservation and shelf life, so we can use additives to ensure fruit quality for longer storage time. From this, the objective was to evaluate the physicochemical and phytochemical characteristics of minimally processed apple cultivar Monalisa under the application of different antioxidants and edible coatings. Thus, this dissertation brings two articles, prepared in 2019 and 2021, at the Headquarters of Embrapa Clima Temperado in Pelotas-RS, which were entitled "Quality of 'Monalisa' apples minimally processed with antioxidant agents" and " Quality of minimally processed 'Monalisa' apples with antioxidant agent and edible coatings”. The apple slices were subjected to solutions containing the following treatments in the first article: distilled water, 2% L-ascorbic acid, 3% erythorbic acid, 5% sodium erythorbate, 0.07% kojic acid, citric acid, associated with chloride of calcium 2% and for the second article were distilled water, waxy corn starch 6%, cassava starch 3%, adjuncts with sodium erythorbate 5% and calcium chloride 1%. So, it was found in the first article that throughout the storage period that the treatment of sodium erythorbate 5% and erythorbic acid 3% combined with calcium chloride 2% showed better performance in the phytochemical evaluation, showing lower activity of the polyphenol oxidase enzymes and peroxidase. In the evaluation of respiratory rate, only the antioxidant sodium erythorbate 5% with calcium chloride 2% had the main highlight, as it presented higher respiratory rate of CO2 and lower respiratory rate of O2, delaying the ripening of apple fruits. Regarding the second article, it was observed that the treatment with distilled water and 5% sodium erythorbate adjuncts with 1% calcium chloride was the best performer during the 9-day period, as the decrease was verified (less darkening of the pulp) of the activity of the two enzymes (polyphenoloxidase and peroxidase), although waxy corn starch 6%, cassava starch 3% and pineapple starch 3%, all added with 5% sodium erythorbate with 1% calcium chloride also delayed the browning of apple fruits in specific periods, 0.6 and 9 days. Therefore, in this study, the 5% sodium erythorbate treatment together with distilled water and 2% or 1% calcium chloride were additives with potential and efficiency to delay the ripening of processed minimal fruits during the period they were stored.