Determination of fruit quality in different methods as an indicator of Pitaia (Holocereus undatus) harvesting and processing

Abstract

Pitaya is a species belonging to the Cactaceae family of American origin, which over time has been geographically distributed in tropical and subtropical regions due to its high degree of rusticity and adaptation. The objective of this work was to identify and evaluate the quality of pitaya fruits during harvest and post-harvest, as well as the physiological changes during their development and to evaluate the potential for replacement of pulp fraction by pitaya peel and its sensory acceptability. For harvesting the fruits, the degree of peel color was used as an indicator and extracted in four degrees: E1 (up to 25% of reddish color), E2 (approximately 50% of reddish color), E3 (between 50 and 75% of reddish coloration) and E4 (above 75% reddish color) at two evaluation times (at harvest and one day after visual detection of complete skin pigmentation). For the indicator time between anthesis and harvest, fruits were collected at 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 days after flower pollination. In addition, the potential for replacing the fruit pulp by different percentages of peel (0, 20, 40 and 60%) for the production of jelly was evaluated, which made it possible to verify the viability and acceptability of the final product. It was observed that fruits harvested at stage E4, although showing higher yield and quality, also showed higher perishability in post-harvest, being E2 and E3 the ideal stages. Considering the quality of fruits harvested on different days after anthesis, those harvested at 35 days had an ideal harvest point. The jelly with 20% replacement of the fruit pulp by peel allowed greater acceptance by the tasters.