Abstract

GIOVANNI ALVAREZ, Javier; ENRIQUE BALAGUERA, Helber  and  FERNANDO CARDENAS, Julián. PHYSIOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF CHAMPA FRUIT (Campomanesia lineatifolia Ruiz & Pavón) DURING POSTHARVEST. rev.udcaactual.divulg.cient. [online]. 2009, vol.12, n.2, pp.125-133. ISSN 0123-4226.

The champa fruit has organoleptic characteristics that makes it pleasant to the consumer. However, it is a little-known fruit, for which post-harvest behavior has not been established.. Therefore, a study of the physicochemical changes of the champa fruit was carried out, in which the daily the respiratory rate, firmness, pH, total soluble solids (TSS), the total titratable acidity (TTA), the maturity index (MI) and the loss of mass in the post-harvest phase was determined. Climacteric behavior was observed in the champa fruit respiration. The postharvest period, at ambient temperature (18°C y 75% of relative humidity) condition, was four days, which indicated that the champa is a highly perishable fruit. The firmness revealed a linear decrease passing from 3,2N to 1N. The pH, the TSS and the MI increased up to the second day, and then showed a decline until the third day, to eventually stabilize, while the TTA presented a slight decrease at the second day, increased for the third day one, staying constant from than on. The loss of mass increased linearly during the postharvest period with a mean value of 2.35% per day.

Keywords : Respiratory rate; firmness, soluble solids; titratable acidity; tropical fruits.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )