Physical and chemical properties of pitaya fruits during storage using different packages

Abstract The pitaya is a fruit that gaining popularity. In the past, the plant and its flower were only used as decoration. Like all fruits, it has storage requirements, making its shelf life time longer, however, as it is a fruit with relatively recent commercialization, there are still no studies that demonstrate the best way to store it, increasing its viability for a longer period. Therefore, the objective of the present work was to evaluate the influence of the packaging material and storage time on the physical and chemical properties of the pitaya. A Completely Randomized Design (CRD) was used in a 3 x 6 factorial arrangement, with three replications. The treatments consisted of three types of packaging; Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE), cardboard box, and Expanded Polystyrene tray (EPS) + Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC); testing five different storage periods (0, 2, 4, 7, 9, and 11 days). The following characteristics were analyzed during storage: fruit mass, pulp/peel ratio, diameter, length and thickness of the fruits, water content of the fruits, pH, and soluble solids content. After performing the analyses, the cardboard box showed the best performance regarding the pitaya fruit’s shelf life throughout storage. The findings herein indicate that pitaya fruits can be stored for up to 9 days in cardboard boxes without having their physical or chemical characteristics altered under uncontrolled ambient temperature and relative humidity conditions.