Efeitos de irradiância e de tempo de exposição à UV-C na preservação de Araçá Amarelo

Abstract

Yellow Araçá (Psidium cattleyanum cultivar Ya-cy) is a fruit originating from South America, commonly found in Brazil, belonging to the Myrtaceae family. This fruit is highly susceptible to spoilage and may show signs of deterioration two to three days after harvest when kept at room temperature. Due to this short shelf life, it is essential to use conservation methods and technologies to ensure its viability for consumption in other regions, without the need for processing. In this context, one of the viable alternatives would be the application of ultraviolet C (UV-C) radiation, known to be a safe and efficient technique for preserving minimally processed foods. This technique proves to be environmentally safe and effective in decontamination, having the primary purpose of eliminating microorganisms and, at the same time, inducing a stimulating effect on the secondary defense metabolism of plants, resulting in the production of antimicrobial compounds. The fruits were subjected to analyzes of acidity, pH, soluble solids, mass loss, rot index, color and phenolic compounds. The results were analyzed over six days, with observations on days 0, 3 and 6. Initially all fruits were healthy, but over time all treatments significantly increased rot symptoms for all treatments, but with smaller values for treatment 3. The titratable acidity values showed differences between treatments only on the third day, with a reduction in the acidity of treatment 3 in relation to the others. The pH values varied, but there were no significant variations. All treatments resulted in mass loss, with the non-radiation treatment showing the greatest loss. The color of the fruits showed a tendency to darken, but without statistically significant differences. Phenolic compounds increased in treatments with UV-C radiation, highlighting treatment 3 which presented the highest concentration among the treatments. However, a significant increase in phenolic compounds was observed only for treatments 3 and 5. In conclusion, UV-C radiation significantly influences some properties of yellow araçá, thus it can be an effective tool to improve the quality and conservation of yellow araçá.