Horticultural products present limited post-harvest life due to catabolic biochemical reactions, which increase with age. The use of cassava starch films and PVC on the maintenance of post-harvest quality of bell peppers cv. Ikeda stored at room temperature was evaluated. The bell peppers (Capsicum annuum L.) were submitted to 4 modified atmospheres: PVC, edible coatings at 3.5%, 4% e 4.5% of cassava starch. Fruits submitted to regular atmosphere were used as control. Mass loss, firmness, titratable acidity (TA), pH, soluble solids (SS), total pectin, soluble pectin, peel color and content chlorophyll were evaluated every 2 days, over 8 days storage period. The experimental design was completely randomized block in factorial scheme with 25 treatments. Fruit firmness and pH decreased while TA and SS increased, at the final of storage period at room temperature, in spite of modified atmosphere. The treatments did not promote significant changes in the total pectin content during the storage period, although lower soluble pectin content was observed in the fruits covered with PVC. The edible coatings containing at 4 and 4.5% of cassava starch scaled from 6th day of storage. PVC covering was effective in the maintenance of quality of bell peppers cv. Ikeda, stored for 8 days under room temperature.
Capsicum annuum; edible coating; PVC; shelf-life; storage
