The objetive of the work was to evaluate the effect of temperature and controlled atmosphere conditions on the quality of ‘Eldorado’ peach sighting to increase storage period. The fruits were maintained at -0.5°C and 0.5°C, with relative air humidity of 97%, in cold storage and in controlled atmosphere (CA), under the following conditions: 1.0kPa of O2 and 3.0kPa of CO2; 1.0kPa of O2 and 3.0kPa of CO2 with ethylene elimination (EE); 1.5kPa of O2 and 5.0kPa of CO2; air and 10kPa of CO2, and cold storage. Evaluations of flesh firmness, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, incidence of rot, and internal browning were done after 32 and 46 days of storage, at the opening of the chambers and after three days at shelf life of 25°C. The results showed that ‘Eldorado’peach was not susceptible to low storage temperature damage and the reduction from 0.5°C to -0.5°C conserved the flesh firmness, total soluble solids, total titratable acidity and reduced rots and internal browning incidence. The CA storage maintained higher firmness, total titratable acidity and decreased the internal browning incidence. The elimination of the ethylene during the storage benefit the fruit quality.
Prunus persica; postharvest; ethylene; storage; refrigeration
