Abstract
The use of fruit coatings allows maintaining longer post-harvest quality of fruits, preserving their physicochemical characteristics (appearance, taste and texture) and increasing commercial acceptance. Thus, this work aimed to evaluate the effect of the application of babassu coconut oil as coating on ‘Pioneer’ banana (Musa AAAB) to preserve its quality characteristics and increase shelf life. The experiment was carried out at the Laboratory of soils of the Federal Institute of Tocantins, Araguatins - TO. Completely randomized design was adopted in a 6 x 5 factorial scheme (six purified babassu coconut oil concentrations as vegetal coating, T1 - 0.0%, T2 - 1.0%, T3 - 2.0%, T4 - 3.0%, T5 - 4.0%, T6 - 5.0% and five evaluation times, 1st, 3rd, 6th and 9th and 12th days after coating application), with four replicates. Products were applied to fruits by dipping, naturally dried and stored at room condition for 12 days. Variables evaluated were peel colour, total solids, pH, fresh mass loss. Data were submitted to normality and homogeneity tests, fulfilling the assumptions, analysis of variance was performed, with significance measured by the F test (p <0.05). Due to the quantitative variation sources (oil concentrations and evaluation times), regression analyzes were performed for all variables except for score scale method. Regarding fruit peel colour, babassu coconut oil had relevant effect, and treatment with 5% babassu oil concentration was the one that kept green peel colour longer than the other treatments. According to results obtained, the use of babassu coconut oil in post-harvest conservation of ‘Pioneer’ banana had significant effects, since all treatments with babassu oil concentrations showed efficiency in inducing delayed ripening, especially providing delayed increase in °Brix content of fruits.
Highlights
Banana is a climacteric fruit and among the most consumed in Brazil and in the world in its natural form, as it is source of carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals
Banana intended for marketing must have quality characteristics that are attractive to the consumer market, such as uniform colour, good physical quality, free from mechanical damage
Total Solids (ST): determined by obtaining a homogeneous paste from the median portion of each fruit using a small amount to determine the direct reading on digital refractometer, with range from 0 to 32 ° Brix and results expressed in °Brix
Summary
Banana is a climacteric fruit and among the most consumed in Brazil and in the world in its natural form, as it is source of carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. An alternative technique considered as viable to increase the post-harvest useful life of fruits and vegetables, processed or not, is the use of edible protective coatings They are not intended to replace the use of conventional packaging materials or even definitively eliminate the use of cold, but rather to present a functional and supporting function, contributing to the preservation of texture and nutritional value, reducing surface gas exchange and excessive water loss or gain (Assis and Britto, 2014). The aim of this work was to evaluate a practical and accessible alternative to banana producers that would contribute to reduce quantitative and qualitative post-harvest losses during storage, transportation and marketing of bananas, aiming to extend the post-harvest life of fruits and to analyze the effects of different babassu coconut oil concentrations as a coating on ‘Pioneira’ banana fruits (Musa AAAB)
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