Caracterização do amadurecimento e climatização de plátano 'Terra Maranhão'

Abstract

Banana (Musa spp.) Is one of the most produced and consumed fruits around the world due to its nutritional value, taste and acceptance in all social classes, its availability in the market, ease of use and affordability. Plantains (Earth bananas or cooking bananas) constitute one of the main starchy crops in developing countries. These fruits have physical, chemical and physiological characteristics that distinguish them from traditional banana cultivars, but little information exists about its postharvest behavior. Several studies on conditioning of traditional bananas cultivars are available in the scientific literature but information about conditioning and its effect on the postharvest quality of plantains are rare. Given this context, this study aimed to characterize plantain ripening and to verify the effects of conditioning at different ethylene concentrations on fruit quality. For post-harvest characterization, fruit were evaluated in seven different maturity stages, according to Von Loesecke‟s scale and for studies of the effects of different ethylene concentrations on fruit quality, concentrations of 0 (control), 50, 100 and 500 μL of ethylene L-1 were applied. The experiments were conducted in a completely randomized design. Fruit of „Terra Maranhão‟ cultivar show seven days of postharvest life when stored at room temperature and can be consumed fresh since maturity stage 5. Fruit conditioning hastens ripening to maturity stage 6 within three days and although the application of ethylene at 50 μL L-1 is sufficient to anticipate and to uniform ripening, the concentration of 100 μL L-1 promotes better quality to the fruit.