Qualidade e armazenamento de frutos de juazeiro (Ziziphus joazeiro Mart.) sob temperatura ambiente.

Abstract

The Ziziphus joazeiro Mart. popularly known as juazeiro, joazeiro, juá among others, is a common plant in the northeast of Brazil, with fruit taste sweet and slightly acidic. This study aimed to evaluate the postharvest quality and the juazeiro fruit behavior harvested at different maturity stages when subjected to storage at room temperature. The fruits were harvested plants located in the Federal University of Campina Grande, campus Pombal / PB. After the selection, the fruits were classified into five maturity stages, according to the color of the fruit peel: stage I, fruits that had color totally green rind; stage II, fruit predominantly green color, but with yellow spots; stage III, fruit predominantly yellow, but with green stains; stage IV, totally yellow fruit; and the V stage, yellow fruit with dark spots and collected from the ground. After sorting and cleaning, the fruits were packed in expanded polystyrene trays (150 g), involved by a PVC film layer (12 m), subject to room temperature storage (28 ± 2 ° C and 55 ± 5% RH ) for 6 days. Every two days of storage were held analysis of physical characteristics (fresh weight, length, thickness, income, weight loss and humidity content of the fruit), chemical and biochemical (ashes, proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, energy, pH, titratable acidity, soluble solids, soluble solids ratio / acidity, total chlorophyll, carotenoids, phenolic compounds, flavonoids and ascorbic acid). Physical analyzes indicate that the fruits of juazeiro stage IV maturity remained higher quality than the other stages of maturation. The fruits of juazeiro are potential sources of bioactive compounds, especially phenolic compounds.