Resumo

GARCIA, JUAN C.; BALAGUERA-LOPEZ, HELBER E.  e  HERRERA A., ANÍBAL O.. Conservation of baby banana (Musa AA Simmonds) fruits with the application of potassium permanganate (KMnO₄). rev.colomb.cienc.hortic. [online]. 2012, vol.6, n.2, pp.161-171. ISSN 2011-2173.

The baby banana is considered one of the promising horticultural products exported from Colombia, however, it is a highly perishable product, whereby, it is necessary to carry out an evaluation of low-cost technologies that enhance the preservation of these fruits. Potassium permanganate (KMnO₄) has proven to be an effective tool in the conservation of different fruits because this product oxidizes ethylene. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of KMnO₄ in preserving fruits of the baby banana, for which a completely randomized design was used with a factorial arrangement of 3 × 3 + 1, wherein the blocks corresponded to the types of clays (montmorillonite, kaolinite, vermiculite and zeolite), the first factor was KMnO₄ doses (0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% based on the fresh weight of fruit) and the second factor was clay doses (0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5%) used as carriers of KMnO₄, in addition to an absolute control. The fruits were stored for 16 days at room temperature and periodically measured for color index (CI), total soluble solids (TSS), weight loss, firmness, total titratable acidity (TTA) and maturity ratio (MR). The results showed that the mixture of 1% clay + 1.5% KMnO₄ favored baby banana conservation because this mixture had a lower CI (-0.64), lower TSS (12.08 °Brix), increased firmness (70.65 N) and had a lower MR (83.67). Therefore, there is a favorable effect on fruit conservation when KMnO₄ is greater than the respective carrier.

Palavras-chave : clay; ripening; postharvest; ethylene oxidation.

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