USE OF POTASSIUM PERMANGANATE SACHETS IN THE POSTHARVEST OF MANGABA FRUIT

Abstract

The potassium permanganate may be used as effective alternative in reducing the ethylene produced during climacteric fruit maturation, as Hancornia speciosa Gomes, during storage. This research aimed to evaluate the use of potassium permanganate sachets in Hancornia speciosa Gomes fruits post- harvest preservation. The fruits were harvested with yellow- green skin and transported to the laboratory where the study was developed. The fruits were washed, sanitized, air dried and then packaged in 200g portions in polystyrene trays covered with polyvinyl chloride film. The treatments were: T1 - without potassium permanganate (control); T2 - sachet with 1 g of potassium permanganate; T3 - sachet with 2 g of potassium permanganate and T4 - sachet with 3 g of potassium permanganate. The trays were placed into B. O. D. at 3 +/- 1 degrees C temperature, 80 +/- 1% RH and stored for 15 days. Every three days were assessed loss of weight, ascorbic acid, soluble solids, titratable acidity, pH, reducing sugar and visual appearance. The experimental design was completely randomized in a factorial way with two replicates. The results demonstrate that the use of 1g and 2g potassium permanganate sachets provided smaller loss of weight (less than 0.7%) and sachets with 2g and 3g provided fruits with a higher reducing sugar content, 2.84% and 2.65% respectively. The visual appearance received higher scores how higher the dose used in sachets were (3g score 5 - great).