Quality and post-harvest life organic pomegranate 'Molar' produced in Paraiba semiarid

Abstract

A pomegranate is a species of wide use, especially due to the medicinal importance, where the fruits were appreciated around the world. The marketing of pomegranate has increased and aroused the interest of fruit producers in Brazil, however, knowledge of the quality and commercial viability of the fruit in natura is incipient. In this sense, this study aimed to determine the quality and postharvest life of pomegranates 'Molar' stored at 27°C and 28% RH. Was used in a completely randomized design with four replications, each replicate consisting of five fruits and seven evaluation periods. At each assessment time 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 days of storage after harvest is conducted through analysis of samples of fruits (n = 20), obtained at random from the container type plastic boxes, condition where the total of 140 fruit was stored in the experiment. In each evaluation period was assessed longitudinal and transverse length, fresh weight loss, weight of arils, juice volume, seed mass, shell mass, soluble solids (SS), titratable acidity (TA), pH, SS / TA, vitamin C and extern and interns appearance. Pomegranate 'Molar' produced in an organic system in semiarid from Paraíba is classified as sweet, with low acidity, less than 0,75% citric acid and soluble solid between 12 and 15%. The storage of fruits at 27 ° C, 28% RH up to six days maintains appropriate biometric, physical-chemical and visual characteristics for the fresh fruit market. The storage of fruits at 27°C, 28% RH for 18 days provocation dehydration of the skin, but not affect the quality or yield of juice extracted from the arils.