Evaluación de diferentes tipos de embalaje e índices de madurez en babaco (Vasconcellea pentagona)

Abstract

The postharvest of fruits is considered important because it allows to preserve the quality of the product. The babaco fruit (Vasconcellea x pentagona Heilborn Mabb) within the fruit production in Ecuador, potentiates the interest of the national and international markets, so it is necessary to establish alternatives that allow prolonging the useful life of the fruit in post-harvest. In the present work, the influence and interaction of two maturity indices (M1 green, M2 green-yellow) and four types of packaging (E1 film paper, E2 flex foam sleeve, E3 paper sleeve and E4 wooden box) were evaluated. in the post-harvest of Babaco, in order to determine the treatment that allows to extend the life of the fruit while preserving its physical and chemical characteristics. The experimental design used was divided plots, distributed completely at random and three repetitions to measure pressure, soluble solids, acidity, color of the pulp and epidermis, weight loss, loss of equatorial and polar diameter. In general, the best results were obtained in the M1E1 treatment (green-film paper), thus, for the pressure variable the lowest loss was recorded with an average of 11 kg / cm2 at 7 days and 9.97 kg / cm2 at every 15 days, with a difference of 1.03 kg / cm2. For the epidermis color, it presented the color 5Y 5/2 (gray olive green) at 0 and 7 days, and 5Y 7/10 (bright yellow) at 15 days. For pulp color, he recorded the code 2.5GY 8/2 (pale yellow green) on day 0 and 7 readings; and the code 2,5GY 8/4 (light yellow green) at day 15. In the weight variable, it presented less loss with a difference of 0.2 kg from day 0 to day 15. In the equatorial diameter it presented less loss with a difference of 1.3 cm from day 0 to day 15. For the polar diameter it registered less loss with a difference of 1.7 cm from day 0 to day 15. On the other hand, for the soluble solids treatment M2E4 (green-yellow and wooden box) showed 7.83 ºBrix at day 0 and 9 ºBrix at day 15. Regarding acidity, they did not experience major changes and their pH remained in a range between 3.3 and 3.8. For visible damage, the M2E2 treatment (green-yellow, flex foam cover), in repetitions I and II presented rot damage from day 7; repeat III showed rotting near the end of the trial. It is concluded that there is an influence of the maturity index in green and the packaging with plastic wrap, since they delay the aging of the fruit because they prevent its contact with the environment and therefore stop perspiration. Key words: Maturity, packaging, postharvest loss, transpiration, pressure, ºBrix, weight, diameter, acidity, color, damage