Aplicación de diferentes niveles de quitosano en el manejo post-cosecha de la chirimoya ( annona cherimola).

Abstract

In the Food Processing Laboratory of the School of livestock Sciences, of the Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo, Chimborazo province, different levels of chitosan were applied (1%, 1.5%, 2%) in front of control treatment in the post-harvest management of cherimoya in order to prolong the useful life of the fruit, we evaluate the physical-chemical characteristics (pH, texture and acidity), sensory (color, smell, taste) and microbiological (molds and yeasts, fecal Coliforms, Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus). We used 120 cherimoyas (Annona cherimola) distributed in four treatments with 10 experimental units in each one. The analyzes were carried out in the food and microbiology laboratory. A completely random design was used for the statiscal analysis. The results were analyzed by analysis of variance (ADEVA) and mean separation according to Tukey (P <0.05). Establishing that the variables pH and texture showed no significant differences between the treatments however the best results are achieved with treatment T3 (2% chitosan) because these characteristics are preserved during the time of storage, in the parameter acidity from day 6 of storage showed differences significant between the measure of the treatments but the lower loss of acidity was achieved with the treatment T3. The highest taste, color and odor scores are achieved by applying 2% of chitosan. Total inhibition was achieved in terms of bacterial growth during the experimentation time unlike molds and yeasts, that reported growth from day 9 of storage. The benefit ratio obtained a higher profitability with the control treatment due to the cost of the chitosan but with the limitation that the useful life is less. In general, it was shown that at higher levels of chitosan, lower microbial growth and thus greater shelf life of the cherimoya. It recommend the use of chitosan in the post-harvest handling of other fruits especially those that characterized by having a very short shelf life.