Modified atmosphere passive in the conservation of wild passion fruit 'BRS Pérola do Cerrado'
Brazil has one of the richest biodiversity in the world, being the cradle of more than 140 different species of passion fruit. Within this context there is the wild passion fruit Passiflora setacea, a species more resistant to pests and diseases, but have found problems in its post-harvest conservation. Through the above, the aim of this work was to evaluate different packaging in the post-harvest quality conservation of wild passion fruit 'BRS Pérola do Cerrado'. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design, factorial scheme 5x8, with four replications, being 5 packs: control (without packaging), polypropylene (PP), low density polyethylene (LDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) + expanded polystyrene (EPS) and TL (total length) 40 mesh; and 8 days of analysis (0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 and 21 days). Were evaluated: mass loss; yield of crude pulp (YCP), soluble solids, luminosity, ºHue and chroma. The data obtained were submitted to analysis of variance and, when significant, the comparison test of Tukey averages (P<0,05), regression analysis and Pearson correlation were performed. The results showed that the control and TL 40 mesh lost around 40% of mass, in contrast to LDPE remained close to 2%. The YCP behavior followed the loss of fruit mass. For the control, the lowest value of ºHue at the end of storage was observed, while the LDPE stood out in this parameter, since its averages were larger, constant and statistically different from the other polymers, showing the capacity to preserve, for a longer period, the intensity of color. It was concluded that wild passion fruit 'BRS Pérola do Cerrado' within the acceptable postharvest characteristics of mass loss, crude pulp yield, soluble solids and coloring, highlighted the packaging of LDPE, being observed commercial quality for the fruits until the 18th day of storage.