This work evaluated the effect of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) on susceptibility to chilling injury (CI) in 'Perola' pineapple, harvested at the commercial maturity from Santa Rita municipality, Paraíba State, Northeast Brazil. Fruits were treated at room temperature with 1-MCP (0, 300, 600, and 1200 ppb) for a 12-hour period and stored: a) during 42 days at 10ºC, evaluated each 7 days and, when transferred to room conditions (25ºC and 65±5% R.H.), followed 21, 28, 35, and 42 days, and were also evaluated after 7 days; b) during 32 days at 7ºC, evaluated at 8-day intervals, transferred to room conditions followed 8, 16, 24, and 32 days, and evaluated after 7 days. For pineapple kept at 10ºC it was not observed 1-MCP effect of retarding the loss of fruit quality. For fruits stored at 7ºC, 1-MCP minimized the incidence of CI when pineapples were transferred to room conditions.
Ananas comosus; physiological disorder; 1-MCP; cold storage
