Caracterização e avaliação de cultivares de pêssego para produção de passa: etapas de preparo para secagem.

Abstract

The potential of “Douradãoª, “Régisª, “Aurora-lª e “Diamanteª peach cultivars, grown in São Paulo State, was evaluated to dried production. The matured fruits, proceeding from commercial orchards, were analyzed according to: titratable acidity, pH, total and soluble solid contents, pulp firmness, total and reducing sugar contents. The pre-drying steps consisted Of: washing, selection, chemical peeling, rinsing, stoning, cutting and chemical blanching. The results showed that “Diamante” cultivar presented the best pulp firmness (15N), the greatest pulp yield (84,2%) and easiest stoning and cutting Operations, followed by “Aurora-1” for the same properties. The “Douradãoª cultivar presented the greatest total solid contents (16,8%), although its less firm pulp (2,1N) resulted in difficulties for stoning and cutting Operations. The “Regis” peach showed the best ratio (17,5) and its pulp was Of medium firmness. It was noted that the chemical peeling and the blanching were efficacious for all the cultivars. The conclusion is that the Diamante, Regis and Aurora cultivars congregate the best characteristics for the production Of dried peach, and the Douradão cultivar is the less indicated.