Fernando Kazuhiro Edagi

Remoção de adstringência de caqui: um enfoque bioquímico, fisiológico e tecnológico

In Asia, the center of origin of persimmon (Diospyros kaki L.), more than 2000 different varieties are present, most of then being astringent. Beyond such variability, there are a lot of different methods to remove the astringency of fruit and each treatment is more approachable for each cultivar and local of production. The different methods to remove the astringency are based, mostly, at the accumulation of acetaldehyde at the flesh fruit that induce the polymerization of the soluble tannin molecules, responsible for the astringency formation, turning them into an insoluble and non astringent substance. The most used methods are: ethanol vapor application which activates alcohol dehydrogenase and increases the acetaldehyde accumulation; and application of anaerobic atmosphere, that induces the transformation of piruvate into acetaldehyde in a reaction catalyzed by the piruvate descarboxilase. This review aims to argue the main factors to be observed in the astringency removal process of persimmon fruit, such as method to be used, temperature to remove astringency, time of exposure to the treatment, fruit ripening at time of astringency removal, among others.

Efeitos de tratamentos térmicos aplicados sobre frutas cítricas armazenadas sob refrigeração

In the present study thermal treatments on,‘Valencia’ orange, ‘Murcott’ tangor and ‘Tahiti’ (temperature conditioning and intermittent warming) were applied lime. The following treatments were applied: T1: Fruits stored at 1°C (Controls); T2: Fast heating of the fruits in hot water at 53°C for 3 minutes and stored at 1°C; T3: Slow heating of the fruits in camera regulated at 37°C for 2 days, with subsequent storage at 1°C; and T4: Intermittent heating in cycles of 6 days at 1°C + 1 day at 25°C. Fruits were stored under low temperature (1°C) and 90-95% relative humidity (RH) during 90 days. Chilling injury incidence and changes in physical-chemical characteristics were evaluated every 15 days. Activity of catalase, glutathione reductase and ascorbate peroxidase was also determined. Intermittent warming was more efficient than temperature conditioning to reduce chilling injury. ‘Tahiti’ lime and ‘Murcott’ tangor supported up to 90 days of intermittent warming stored at 1°C, while control fruits showed chilling injury after 30 days (‘Tahiti’ lime) and 45 days (‘Murcott’ tangor). ‘Valencia’ orange was affected by chilling injury after 45 days of cold storage, and temperature conditioning has caused lower incidence of this disorder. The effect of thermal treatments can be related to the activity of

Danos de frio e qualidade de frutas cítricas tratadas termicamente e armazenadas sob refrigeração

ABSTRACT- In this study, thermal treatments (temperature conditioning and intermittent warming) were applied in ´Valencia´ orange,´Murcott´ tangor and ´Tahiti´ lime stored in low temperature. Fruits were stored at 1 o C during 90 days and evaluate after every 15 daysaccording with the incidence of chilling injury and changes in physical-chemical characteristics. ‘Tahiti’ lime and ´Murcott’ tangorintermittently warmed could be stored up to 90 days at 1 o C, without the occurrence of chilling injury while control fruits showed chillinginjury after 30 days (´Tahiti’ lime) and after 45 days (´Murcott’ tangor). ´Valencia’ orange was affected by chilling injury af ter 45 days ofcold storage. In this cultivar, temperature conditioning has caused lower incidence of chilling injury. The intermittent warming is atreatment that can be used in these citrus cultivars without affecting the physical and chemical characteristics of fruits.Index terms: chilling injury, Citrus sp, temperature conditioning, intermittent warming.

DIAGNÓSTICO DA QUALIDADE DE MAÇÃS NO MERCADO VAREJISTA BRASILEIRO

The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality and price of apples in the Brazilian retailer market. Samples of Gala, Fuji and Red Delicious apples were collected monthly between March of 2010 and January of 2011 in 20 supermarkets in Curitiba, Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro and Recife. Four supermarkets in each city were previously selected and defined as sources of apple samples for the 11 months of the study. The Category (scale 1 to 3) of the apples was defined by external fruit quality (color; severity of physiological, mechanical, fungus, insect and hail damage, etc) according to the legal standards of MAPA. Category 1 and 3 represent the highest and lowest fruit quality standards, respectively. The average Category of the apples in the supermarkets increased during the year from 1.6 to 2.0 for ‘Gala’, from 1.8 to 2.4 for ‘Fuji’ and from 1.4 to 1.8 for ‘Red Delicious’. The loss of quality in the period between the packing and the exposure of the fruits in the supermarket was evident in all 11 months and varieties. The decrease of the external quality in the apples at the supermarket was associated with high incidence of mechanical damages and decay that ranged between 13 to 50% and 1 to 20%, respectively, depending of the variety and the month of evaluation. The flesh firmness of the apples decreased between March and July for levels below 12 lb and tended to increase to levels close to 14 and 15 lb between November and January depending of the variety. The standards of price and quality fluctuation along the year indicate that the retail price of the apple is more influenced by the seasonality or the pressure of sales than by the quality of the fruit. The variation of apple prices among regions was similar for the three varieties. Data indicated that average period between packing and supermarket exposure is 17 and 28 days for ‘Gala’ and ‘Fuji’ apples, respectively.