Abstract

The baby corn has been gaining ground in the market and arousing interest of producers. However, there is a barrier in its production chain due to the lack of scientific knowledge in the harvest and post-harvest strategies. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the changes in the physicochemical characteristics of the baby corn stored at different temperatures and under controlled atmosphere. The studies were performed at UNIMONTES with the ‘AG 1051’ baby corn spikletes. Two tests were performed, one considering the spikelets in the straw and the other with the husked spikelets. The tests were carried out under CRD, in a 2 × 2 × 6 factorial scheme, that is two storage temperatures (16 and 25 °C), two controlled atmosphere conditions (with and without PVC plastic wrap) and six evaluation periods (0, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 days after harvest) with four replications. The quality characteristics of the spikelets were analyzed in the post-harvest. the post-harvest quality preservation of baby corn in the straw and the husked ones was affected by temperature, controlled atmosphere and evaluation period. The best storage condition to maintain the main quality characteristics of the spikelets at post-harvest was observed at the temperature of 16 ºC with controlled atmosphere use. For the spikelets preserved with the presence of straw, the maximum storage time for maintenance of post-harvest characteristics was four days, and for spikelets stored without straw, the maximum storage time was two days and 12 hours, both at refrigerated temperature (16 °C) and under controlled atmosphere.

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