Calcium chloride postharvest application on 'Roxo de Valinhos' fig fruits

Abstract

The fig fruits have problems with their post-harvest shelf-life, due to the fact that the fruit is climacteric and it has high perishability. Faced with this issue, this paper objective was to evaluate the use of calcium chloride in the post-harvest period of Roxo de Valinhos fruits. The fruits were harvested from an experimental orchard and sent to the horticulture department, where they were treated with different concentrations of CaCl₂ (0, 1, 2, and 3%), using the dipping method. The fruits were stored in cold chamber (5±1ºC and 80± 5% RH), packed with polystyrene trays and covered with PVC film. Evaluations were realized at 5, 10, 15 and 20 days after storage, when were observed the following characteristics: firmness, pH, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, maturation index and sugar content. The weight loss percentage was also evaluated every 2 days until the 20th day of storage. Calcium chloride applications on the post-harvest period of fig fruits promoted few changes in the fruit quality during the storage period. All the quality characteristics vary over the days of storage, except total sugar content and total soluble solids.