Papaya is a perishable fruit, of short shelf-life. New technologies of conservation of horticultural products with the possibility of being used in organic systems have been developed, such as the edible coatings that can be eaten with the product. In this work it was evaluated 'Tainung 1' Formosa type papaya ripening at room temperature and coated with edible cassava starch , which was applied by dipping the fruits during one minute in suspensions of 1%, 2% and 3%. In the day of treatment application and every four days, during 12 days, fruits were evaluated for mass loss, skin color, pulp firmness, total soluble solids (SS), total titratable acidity (AT) and ratio (SS/AT). The experiment was conducted at a completely randomized design, in a 4 x 4 factorial scheme (% starch in suspension x days after treatment), with four replications and one fruit per plot. The edible coatings of cassava starch at 1% and 3% extended the postharvest life of Formosa 'Tainung 1' papaya fruits for four days, without affecting their quality. These treatments delayed fruit ripening , whose skin color, pulp firmness, SS and AT changes were significantly slower than the ones of non-treated fruits.
Carica papaya; modified atmosphere; postharvest
