Efeitos da luz UV-C nos parâmetros de qualidade de morangos em pós-colheita

Abstract

Strawberries have gained significant market share in Brazil due to their high acceptance among brazilian and global population, making it an economically important crop. Are highly perishable, and therefore, post-harvest control is crucial to ensure their quality and extend their shelf life. One of the major challenges in post- harvest management is maintaining the physicochemical characteristics of the fruits, non-thermal solutions prove to be an alternative for reducing or inactivating microbial action and also act in maintaining the quality of fruits and vegetables. One of the technologies being studied is ultraviolet radiation, specifically in the wavelength range of 200 to 280 nm, known as short-wavelength ultraviolet radiation (UV-C). In this context, the objective of this work was to analyze the conservation of strawberries and their physical-chemical and pathological properties (pH, Soluble Solids, firmness, mass, visual scale of disease incidence and color) after six days of storage. A completely randomized design (DIC) was used in this experiment, conducted in a greenhouse, under equal conditions for all treatments, in a 2x5 factorial scheme. The first factor refers to the period of application of UV-C light (nighttime and daytime). The second factor is doses of exposure to UV-C light, namely: 0 kJ m-² (0 seconds); 0.270 kJ m-² (5 seconds); 0.55 kJ m-² (10 seconds); 1.1 kJ m-² (20 seconds); 2.2 kJ m-² (40 seconds), with five replications, each containing four pseudofruits. The result of the evaluations showed that there was no interaction between the treatments, however, strawberries treated with 1.1 kJ m-² exhibited higher luminosity compared to the others. It was also observed that fruits treated during the nighttime showed higher firmness and pseudofruit mass compared to the samples from the daytime period. The range of doses tested showed a quadratic effect for luminosity where values close to 40 seconds (2.2 kJ m-²) of UV-C light may have negative effects on coloration and values between 18 and 24 have a beneficial effect. No significant results were found for the other variables analyzed, such as pH and soluble solids. Therefore, in general, the use of UV-C light was beneficial, acting in the maintenance of the firmness and luminosity of the pseudofruits.