INFLUÊNCIA DE COBERTURA VEGETAL NO CULTIVO E REFRIGERAÇÃO PÓS-COLHEITA DE CENOURA

Abstract

The carrot is one of the most commercialized vegetables in the Brazilian market, but irrigation and weed incidence are limiting factors in the production of the same. The aim of this study was to measure the post harvest quality of the carrot under the influence of vegetable cover and different storage temperatures. The experiment was installed in a factorial scheme (4 x 2 x 6), with 8 coverages with vegetal residue, C1- grama, C2- rice husk, C3- cane straw and C4- control (without vegetal cover), 2 temperatures of Storage, T1- refrigerated at 5 ° C and T2-environment at 25 ° C, and 6 evaluation periods (0,5,10,15,20,25 days) using 3 replicates of 5 roots each. The treatments using field cover and post-harvest refrigeration are efficient to maintain the physical-chemical quality of the roots. The firmness of the roots at room temperature was lower than refrigerated (150.3 and 167.5 respectively). The majority of coverings had higher SS / AT ratio than the control (mean 12.09 and 10.16, respectively). Coats and heat treatment had a positive influence on the shelf life of carrots.