EVALUATION OF REFRIGERATED STORAGE OF 'MIKADO' FRESH PERSIMMON USING EDIBLE COATINGS

‘Mikado’ persimmon has great potential, but there are problems during its commercialization due to decreased fruit quality and competition with other cultivars of persimmon best known as the ‘Rama Forte’ and ‘Fuyu’. This cultivar is very important for producers in the district of D.Mariana, in the Sumidouro-RJ city, being the second most planted cultivar in the region. However, there are some problems in the distribution of this cultivar due to the difficulties mentioned above. Therefore, the best market for ‘Mikado’ is only the local mountain region of the Rio de Janeiro state. For most of these producers, the persimmon stands out as one of the main rural activities, for acreage, time spent and payment activity. This crop is predominantly of family-based farmers. Cold storage associated with edible coatings may be an alternative to reduce these problems. These technologies may extend the shelf life of fresh ‘Mikado’ persimmon, providing the possibility to sell these fruits outside the period of greatest crop production. This may ensure higher return and the possibility to put in new consumer markets. The maturation of persimmon occurs from February to May, depending on cultivar and the large supply in this period in the internal market, requiring from the producers the sale of the fruit by unprofitable price. Outside the normal season crop the prices rise, reaching in some cases up to 300% increments. One of the problems in the supply chain is the difficulty to keep quality of the fruit until that time or having this fruit this season.