PACKAGES FOR REFRIGERATED CONSERVATION OF PURPLE CARROT
Purple carrot faces obstacles on the commercialization due to its low durability and high shriveling rates. The passive modified atmosphere (PMA) increases relative humidity around the horticultural products, thus reducing losses caused by dehydration. The study aimed the evaluation of different PMA formed by packages on conservation of quality of purple carrots. ‘Deep Purple” carrots were submitted to treatments: 1) Control: Expanded polystyrene recipient overlaid by an extruded net of polyethylene; 2) CPL: copolymer laminates of 25cm x 30cm x 37µm (width x length x thickness) (Xtend®, code 815-LE47, StePac L.A. Ltd, Israel); 3) LDPE: low-density polyethylene (LDPE) (25cm x 30cm x 60µm); 4) P-LDPE: LDPE (25cm x 30cm x 60µm) with a 340µm perforation on the central area of each side. The packages, containing ±800g, were sealed and stored at 2°C and 80-85%RH for 120 days. They were analyzed on harvest day and every 15 days. The experimental delineation was completely randomized in factorial 4x9 (treatments x days of analysis). The gas concentration, moisture loss (ML) and visual aspects (shriveling index – SI; rot index – RI; sprouting index – SPI) were analyzed. The visual analysis, together with ML, showed that all the packages presented a better performance than control treatment. The LDPE treatment exhibited the higher RI besides the formation of an anaerobic atmosphere, with O2 concentrations close to zero since the 15º day. The CPL and P-LDPE treatments achieved similar results, keeping the gas concentration under the recommended limits (≤5% CO2 and ≥3% O2). The CPL package presented a higher RI when compared to the P-LDPE (12% and 5%, respectively, on 120º day). However, the CPL presented a lower SPI than the P-LDPE (7% and 35%, respectively, on 120º day). Therefore, CPL package reveals to be more efficient in maintaining the quality during the storage period.