Caracterização química e comportamento pós-colheita de tomates orgânicos especiais cultivados em Seropédica, RJ

Abstract

Organic production has stood out for exploring different varieties of vegetables, which aroused the interest of haute cuisine representatives in large urban centers, such as Rio de Janeiro. Socio-economic projects that aim at fair marketing comprise a new market niche characterized by advocating food grown and distributed in a sustainable way. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the use of two types of biodegradable packaging or biopackages consisting of cassava starch (with and without the addition of a type of natural retardant that aimed at their greater durability) in the packaging of special organic tomato fruits, as well as characterizing them in terms of chemical and bioactive components. The integrity of the trays was evaluated through a scale of notes, as well as the chemical characterization and bioactive compounds of tomatoes of the varieties Yellow Polish, Yellow Perinha and Indigo Rose. These were harvested at the turning stage, washed in running water, sanitized with sodium hypochlorite, packed in cassava starch biopackages with and without retardant, covered with plastic film and kept in BOD at 10ºC with 90% RH for one 16-day period. The evaluations took place at the time of harvest and every four days, considering the following components: soluble solids, titratable acidity, SS / AT ratio, pH, ascorbic acid, total carotenoids, total anthocyanins, lycopene and β-carotene. The experimental design was completely randomized in a factorial scheme of 2x5 with 2 types of packaging and 5 evaluation times (days 0, 4, 8, 12 and, 16 of storage), with 5 repetitions for each variety. The performance of each character of the fruits was compared statistically by linear regression models. Statistical analyzes were performed using the Sisvar software at a significance level of 5%. The results showed that the biopackages with and without the addition of retardant remained intact throughout the storage of the fruits, being able to be used as an alternative for the packaging of these in natura, since these showed differences only for some of the evaluated componentes. The behavior of the special organic tomatoes of the three varieties under packaging in the two types of biopackages during the 16 days of storage showed that there was interference of the retardant applied to the trays for the ascorbic acid content in the fruits of the Polish yellow and Indigo Rose, Acidity and Relation varieties SS / AT for the Perinha Amarelo and Indigo Rose varieties; as well as for total carotenoids for the Polish yellow and Indigo Rose varieties, these components being lower in most of the storage period. In addition, there was an increase in the SS / AT ratio and a reduction in the levels of AT and ascorbic acid for the three varieties; SS increase only for ‘yellow polish’ and ‘Indigo Rose’, these characteristics being linked to a more sweet character of the fruits; Increase in anthocyanins only for 'yellow polish'; Increase in total carotenoids for ‘Indigo Rose’ and maintenance of lycopene and β-carotene levels for ‘Perinha Amarelo’, thus showing different behavior of fruits in relation to bioactive compounds. In this way, the present study brought some important information about the chemical characteristics of these little-known tomato cultivars, which allow to infer these fruits, potential for use in gastronomy, as well as in other food areas.