This research was carried out to study the effects of fruit maturity and storage temperature on the physiology of the red strawberry-guavas. Fruits were harvested on green maturity stages (< 20% of epidermis surface with red color) and ripe (>50% of epidermis surface with red color) stages, stored at 0, 5, 10, 20, and 30ºC (RH of 85-90%) to be assessed in terms of respiration rates and skin color alterations (L=lightness; and hº=hue angle). There was a substantial increase in the respiration rate with the increase of storage temperature from 0 to 30ºC, with a Q10 @ 2.7. Fruits harvested at green maturity stage showed, in comparison to fruit harvested at mature stage, quite decrease in the quality, characterized by lower soluble solids content and higher titratable acidity, but better firmness and green color retention (lower changes from green to red color), specially for fruits stored at 0ºC, and lower incidence of decay. These results show that red strawberry-guavas have high respiratory rates and accelerated ripening process at room temperatures (20ºC). Therefore, it is recommended fruit harvesting at the mature stage and its immediate storage at temperatures close to 0ºC for the best post harvest conservation.
Psidium cattleianum Sabine; post harvest physiology; respiration; Q10; ripening
