Sensory quality of fruits of papaya formosa tainung-01 stored in modified atmosphere

Modified atmosphere is widely used to extending the shelf life of fresh fruits; however, it can alter their quality. The objective of this work was to evaluate the sensory quality of papaya Formosa Tainung-01 fruits coated with cassava starch, or low-density polyethylene film. The treatments consisted of fruits coated with a 3% cassava starch solution (w/v), or low-density polyethylene film (X-tend® 815 PP26), and fruits with no coating as control, stored at a mean temperature of 27.7 °C and air relative humidity of 50%. External appearance, peel color, pulp firmness, soluble solids (SS), titratable acidity (TA), SS to TA ratio, pH, vitamin C, and weight loss were evaluated at 0, 4, 7, 9, and 11 days of storage. A test consisted of ordering of fruits by preference was used for the sensory quality analysis. The fruits coated with cassava starch, or low-density polyethylene film presented low soluble solid contents, which affects negatively their sensory quality. The low-density polyethylene film reduced the weight loss, and vitamin C content of the fruits.