Cambio en las características de calidad de 12 híbridos comerciales de zanahoria durante el almacenamiento

a study was conducted to determine the postharvest behavior during root storage of 12 commercial carrot hybrids: bangor f1, nandrin f1, napoli f1 and norwich f1 (from bejo), big sur and sirkana (from nunhems), bolero f1, concerto f1 (vac-03 f1) (from vilmorin); xcr3688 and s-505 (from sakata), esperanza and dulce (from seminis), all grown in cot, oreamuno, cartago. a standard postharvest treatment was applied to all roots, which consisted of washing mechanically by brushing with water and citrus seed extract (kilol l df-100), selecting the commercial roots and passing them through an hydro cooler at 2°c for 15 min, then packing the roots in commercial plastic bags, and finally taking them to the postharvest, laboratory, where they were stored in a cold room at 2°c for 8 weeks (56 days). two groups of roots belonging to each hybrid were established; in the first group the following external variables were assessed weekly on different roots: external color, firmness, xylem/phloem ratio and total soluble solids (obrix). in the second group the following external variables were also evaluated weekly: external color, weight loss (change in root mass) and incidence of postharvest deterioration factors, but on the same roots every week. three types of root damage were found: physiological damage, pathogens and unknown causal agent. there was no difference among hybrids for weight loss; only big sur showed a different external color with respect to the other hybrids; xcr3688 and bolero f1 showed greater firmness, and bolero f1 had the highest brix value. hybrids with the best postharvest behavior were dulce, s-505, xcr3688 and big sur.