Fruits of cherimoya (Annona cherimola Mill.) cv. Fino of Jete were harvested from an orchard situated in Conceição dos Ouros - MG, Brazil, in March 2000. The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate the post harvest conservation of fruits packed with zeolite films. Fruits with better quality were selected and divided into two treatments: a) packed with polyethylene coextrused film with incorporation of a mineral called zeolit; b) control (without plastic film). The fruits were packed in cardboard boxes and cold-stored at 12 ± 1 ºC; 90%-95% of RH for four weeks in Instituto Agronômico, Campinas, Brazil. Mass loss of the fruits, external color, appearance, firmness, total soluble solids, total titrable acidity and ratio were evaluated during four weeks. It was noticed that control fruits start to show physical and chemical changes from the 2nd until the 3rd week. In the third week the control fruits were rather depreciated, while the zeolite treatment maintained almost unchanged the physical and chemical characteristics evaluated. It was concluded that fruits could be maintained under cold storage for two weeks, while the fruits packed with zeolite films could be stored for four weeks at 12±1 ºC and 90%-95% RH.
cherimoya; cold storage; plastic films
