Surinam cherry is a tropical fruit of high perishability, a factor which implies in storage and commercialisation problems and effects the quality of the fruit "in natura". The purpose of this research was to verify the influence of temperature on the storage of surinam cherries. Green, half-mature and mature fruits were stored during 30 days under refrigeration (8°C ± 1/ U.R. 90-95%) and during 90 days under freezing temperatures (-18°C). Average weight, pH, total acidity and soluble solids and total vitamin C contents of the fruits were measured at intervals of 05, 10, 20, 30, 60 and 90 days. A decrease in weight was observed for all fruits, regardless of maturation stage and treatment. Refrigeration preserved the innate external appearance of half-mature and mature fruits up to 10 days of storage. Refrigeration preserved innate external appearance of green surinam cherries for 20 days but prevented the maturation process. The intrinsic characteristics of the fruits (pH, soluble solids, total acidity and total vitamin C) were altered by the treatments, except for vitamin C content in the frozen fruits which at the end of the storage period was similar to the initial rate. Mature and half-mature surinam cherries stored under refrigeration showed the possibility of preservation up to 05 days. Because of the intense alteration on physical characteristics caused by freezing, the mature and half-mature surinam cherries can only be just used for further processing.
Eugenia uniflora; storage; preservation
