COELHO, Silvia R. M.; PRUDÊNCIO-FERREIRA, Sandra H.
Abstract:
The aging of two common bean lots of two different varieties (Iapar 81 - carioca
variety and Iapar 44 - black variety) was accelerated in oven at 40oC and 76% RH% for 15, 30, 45,
60, 75 days. Other two lots of the same varieties were subjected to aging under environmental
conditions for 3, 6, 9 e 12 months. For the both lots of each variety, fresh beans stored at 50C were
considered the control. Both storage processes caused increase in acidity, decrease in cellular pH,
where the black bean was the most susceptive to these alterations. It was verified, still, correlation of
these parameters with the increase of hardness of the grains during storage, that takes to a loss of
quality in post-harvest. Due to determination easiness, pH can be used as a good indicative of
alteration of hardness of the grains during the aging