Strawberries cv. Oso Grande were minimally processed and kept in three different atmospheres: 3% O2 + 10% CO2 (N2 balance), 3% O2 + 15% CO2 (N2 balance) and ambient atmosphere (control), at 5 and 10 ºC, during 7 days, with the evaluation of their physical and chemical characteristics during storage. Fruits were evaluated at 0, 3 and 7 days for weight loss, firmness, pH, titratable acidity, soluble solids, sugar content (sucrose, fructose and glucose) and total anthocyanins. Data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and means were compared by the Least Significance Difference (LSD) test (5%). It was verified that shifting the temperature from 5 to 10 ºC had no significant effect on the physical and chemical variables analyzed. The utilization of atmospheres 3% O2 + 10% CO2 and 3% O2 + 15% CO2 was important for quality maintenance of fresh-cut strawberries. They better preserved firmness in relation to ambient atmosphere, and had a positive effect on the control of fruit weight loss. However, fresh-cut fruits kept under those atmospheres showed a lower content of anthocyanins when compared to fruits stored in ambient conditions.
Fragaria x Ananassa Duch; minimal processing; atmospheric control; refrigerated storage; quality
