Estudo de materiais biodegradáveis para armazenamento de produtos agrícolas: biofilme e recipiente confeccionados de fécula de inhame.

Abstract

The postharvest life of papaya is relatively short due to the high perishability presented by such a product. The use o f biofilms can provide an increase in the postharvest life o f these fruits. The Hawaii papaya fruits were immersed in suspensions of yam starch at leveis of 0, 2, 3 and 4%", and stored in an environmental chamber at the temperatures o f 5, 10 and 15°C during the period o f 28 days o f storage. The papaya fruits were evaluated every four days regarding the externai appearance, firmness, peei and pulp color, titratable acidity (TA), soluble solids (SS), TSS/TA ratio and pH. The mass loss of Hawaii papaya was done every 3 days. The experiment was conducted according to full randomly experimental design in a 4 x 3 x 8 factorial design (% starch x storage temperature x storage period), with three replications. In order to analyze the mass loss, a 4 x 3 x 10 factorial design was adopted, consisting of ten periods of storage. The papaya presented a better aspect of conservation when stored in the biofilm of yam starch at the concentration of 2%, making the product more attractive and increasing its postharvest life. The papaya fruits coated with yam starch treatments of 3 and 4% displayed a drying aspect due to the shrinkage of the biofilm caused by the temperature. The fruits subjected to 5°C developed symptoms of chilling injury from the 4* day o f storage, which were aggravated with the extension o f the storage. The best estimate for the maintenance o f quality and for the increase in postharvest shelf life o f papaya was observed in fruits at 10°C, wrapped in a biofilm o f yam starch at a concentration of 2%. In the storage at 15°C, the first signs of wilting could be observed at the 8* day of storage, regardless of the treatment used.