Uso de diferentes microalgas na composição de revestimentos comestíveis para a conservação pós-colheita da Pitaia.

Abstract

The pitaya is a fruit that has a short postharvest life, a fact that hinders its commercialization for long periods after the harvest. In this sense, the use of edible coatings becomes a promising alternative that can increase the shelf life of the fruit. Therefore, the objective of the present work was to evaluate the use of edible coatings formulated with the addition of microparticles of Spirulina platensis, Chlorella sp. and Scenedesmus sp., for postharvest conservation of pitaya fruits under physico-chemical aspects at room temperature. The analyzes were performed in the Post-harvest Fruit and Vegetable laboratory at the Federal University of Campina Grande, on the Pombal-PB Campus. The design used was completely randomized in a 2x5 factorial scheme (two varieties of pitaya, Hylocereus undatus and Hylocereus polyrhizus and, five coverings). T1: (control, without covering) fruits only sanitized; T2: fruits only sanitized and wrapped with pvc film; T3: sanitized fruits, coated with 0.05% microparticles of Spirulina platensis and wrapped with pvc film; T4: sanitized fruits, coated with 0.05% microparticles of Chlorella sp. and wrapped with pvc film; T5: sanitized fruits, coated with 0.05% microparticles of Scenedesmus sp. and wrapped with pvc film, accommodated under a bench at an average temperature of 18 ± 2 °C and 48 ± 5% RH. The post-harvest quality parameters were evaluated at harvest and fourteen days after storage. The application of coatings had a positive influence on the conservation of fruit quality, with T3 (0.05% of microparticles of Spirulina platensis) and T4 (0.05% of microparticles of Chlorella sp.) being the best coating, as it provided maintenance on the appearance and quality of the fruits. As for the physical-chemical characteristics, they did not show any influence on the applied coatings. After 14 days at a temperature of 18 ± 2 °C and 48 ± 5% RH, the comercial characteristics were maintained for both varieties, however, the red pitaya was superior to the White pitaya, both in relation to the visual and nutritional characteristics.