One of the biggest problems in postharvest of lychees is the pericarp browning, which has been attributed to anthocyanins degradation. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the effect of different doses of ascorbic acid to prevent pericarp browning and on the maintenance of postharvest quality of lychees. Fruits of 'Bengal' lychee with completely red pericarp were immersed in solution with different doses of ascorbic acid (0, 5, 10, 15 and 30 mM) for 5 minutes. After dried, the fruits were packed in polystyrene trays, stored in cold chamber at 5 ± 1,2°C e 90 ± 5% de RH and evaluated every other 4 days for 12 days. It was observed that the loss of fresh weight was higher in non-treated with ascorbic acid fruits. Independently of the dose, the ascorbic acid had little effect on the retention of the red color of the lychee pericarp. The polyphenoloxidase and peroxidase activities in the lychee pericarp was increased with lower doses of ascorbic acid (0, 5 and 10 mM), however, there was pericarp browning after the fourth day in the fruits of all treatments in ascorbic acid. Ascorbic acid was not efficient in maintaining the internal quality of fruit.
Litchi chinensis Sonn; polyphenoloxidase; peroxidase; postharvest quality
