REVESTIMENTOS ALTERNATIVOS PARA CONSERVAÇÃO PÓS-COLHEITA DO TOMATE (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Abstract

Among horticultural crops, tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) are undoubtedly one of the most consumed vegetables in the world. The high perishability of this fruit is a worrying factor in its logistics, and it directly interferes with their shelf life, thus requiring several precautions in its post-harvest conservation. Facing the challenges of post-harvesting tomatoes, this work seeks alternatives to protect the fruit, aiming at delaying ripening, and consequently extending their availability time for commercialization and consumption. Therefore, the present study evaluated the application effect of babassu coconut oil, cassava starch and its associations on tomatoes post-harvest conservation. The present work was divided into two groups of analyzes conducted simultaneously in the same place, in both the completely randomized design (DIC) was adopted, according to a factorial 8 x 4 (edible coverage x storage period), with four replicates, each. The repetition consisted of 1 polystyrene container with 2 tomatoes. The evaluations in both experiments were performed at 0, 5, 10 and 15 days after treatments application, namely: T1 - Control; T2 - 1% OBP; T3 - 4% OBP; T4 - 6% OBP; T5 - 4% FM; T6 - 6% FM; T7 - 4% FM + 1% OBP; T8 - 6% FM + 1% OBP. After collecting the data, they were subjected to analysis of variance and the means compared by Tukey test at the level of 5% probability. The results showed that tomatoes from the Italian group IPA 6 had a significant delay in ripening until 15 DAP when treated with 6% concentration of cassava starch film and its association with 1% babaçu coconut oil. The positive effects were observed in the analyzes of firmness, mass loss, Brix, respiration and fruit color.