Resumo

OSUNA ENCISO, Tomás et al. Postharvest quality of pitahaya (Hylocereus undatus Haw.) fruits harvested in three maturity stages. Rev. fitotec. mex [online]. 2011, vol.34, n.1, pp.63-72. ISSN 0187-7380.

In this study we evaluated the postharvest quality of pitahaya fruits (Hylocereus undatus Haw.) in three maturity stages: initial, medium, and complete, which corresponded to 25-50, 50-75, and 75-100 % of red peel color, respectively. The fruits were stored under marketing conditions (20 ± 2 °C). Physical and chemical characteristics were evaluated during 12 d and the physiological characteristics during 8 d. By the end of the storage period, weight loss was higher (P ≤ 0.05) in fruits harvested at initial maturity (7.8 %), than in fruits of medium (6.1 %) and complete (5.6 %) maturities. Peel color was different (P ≤ 0.05) between maturities and storage times. At day 12, fruits harvested at medium and complete maturities showed hue angle (°Hue) values of 15.6 (red) and 8.6 (red-dwelled), respectively, whereas fruits harvested at initial maturity ended with 31.7 (red-orange). Firmness, titratable acidity (TA), total soluble solids (TSS) and vitamin C decreased (P ≤ 0.05) during storage. Firmness remained higher (P ≤ 0.05) in fruits harvested initial maturity. TA decreased 80 % (P ≤ 0.05) in fruits of the three maturity stages, but it remained higher in fruit of the initial maturity stage. TSS had significant reduction (P ≤ 0.05) during storage, and °Brix values were higher (P < 0.05) in fruits harvested in medium and complete maturity stages, as compared with fruits harvested at initial maturity. The Brix/acidity ratio (BAR) was similar in the first 4 d of storage, but the fruits in initial maturity showed longer (10 d; P < 0.05) optimal values of BAR (<40). Decrease in vitamin C was higher (P ≤ 0.05) in fruit harvested in complete maturity. Respiration rate was higher (P ≤ 0.05) in fruits with complete maturity than in fruits with initial maturity and medium maturity, and a non-climacteric behavior was observed. Shelf life for fruits with medium and complete maturity was between 6 and 8 d, whereas for initial maturity was 10 d, but in the last ones the less intense red color affected fruit quality.

Palavras-chave : Hylocereus undatus; postharvest quality; maturity stages; respiration; shelf life.

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