PHYSICAL-CHEMICAL AND SENSORIAL QUALITY OF IRRADIATED AND MINIMALLY PROCESSED PINEAPPLE

Abstract

The present work had as objective to monitor the physical-chemical and sensorial quality of pineapple cv. "Smooth Cayenne" minimally processed and submitted to gamma radiation. The fruits were peeled, sliced and sanitized with 20 mg.L-1 active chlorine. The slices were packed in polystyrene trays covered with vinyl polichloride flexible film (VPC) and irradiated with 1 and 2 kGy, being the control non irradiated. The samples were stored at temperature of 5 ±1oC and evaluated in the first, third and sixth days of storage for color, firmness, soluble solids (SS), total titratable acidity, pH and sensorial analysis. The control presented the smallest values of acidity and pH maintenance in all evaluations, while the soluble solids was higher in the first evaluation for the doses of 1 and 2 kGy, declining with storage time. The irradiation didn’t affect the color of minimally processed pineapples in the period of the evaluation, although reduced the firmness of the samples in the dose of 1 kGy. The control presented the best grades in sensorial evaluations for the attributes of aroma, taste, texture and appearance. In a general way, the best results were observed for non irradiated minimally processed pineapple (control), being that the irradiated samples with 1 kGy obtained inadequate results for the analysis of soluble solids, total titratable acidity, pH, firmness and sensorial