QUALITY OF FUSARIOSIS-RESISTANT PINEAPPLE FRF 632, HARVESTED AT DIFFERENT MATURITY STAGES

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of the harvest maturity stages on the physical, chemical and sensorial quality of the pineapple genotype FRF 632. The fruits were harvested in the maturity stages “green-ripe”, “spotted”, “colored” and “yellow” and evaluated regarding fruit and flesh mass; flesh yield; fruit and crown length; diameter of the basal, middle and top fruit sections; flesh color; titratable acididy (TA); translucency; soluble solids (SS); SS/TA ratio; and sensory acceptance of the attributes color, aroma, flavor, texture/firmness, overall acceptance and intensities of the attributes sweetness, acidity and firmness, using the just about right scale. There was no difference for the majority of the physical traits of the fruits at the various harvest maturity stages. The fruits had average mass of about 1,100 g. There was a gradual increase in the content of soluble solids and the SS/TA ratio during ripening. The fruits collected at the “colored” and “yellow” stages had the highest approval percentages and were considered to have ideal sweetness and acidity by the majority of consumers in sensorial tests. However, the preference mapping revealed a greater preference for fruits harvested in the “spotted” and “colored” stages for all the attributes assessed, unlike what was observed in the test of average and approval percentage. Therefore, the physical, chemical and sensorial tests indicate that the fruits harvested in the “colored” maturity stage were most preferred by consumers, since they had high approval percentage, as well as ideal sweetness and acidity.