Yellow passionfruit conservation for the fresh market as affected by postharvest wax and cytokinin treatments

Yellow passion fruit is mainly marketed for processing, although the fresh fruit market is more lucrative. The postharvest life of this tropical fruit tends to be short in temperatures above 25°C, common in tropical environments. Deterioration and reduction of market value is due mostly to water loss and peel wrinkling. Modification of storage conditions with plastic films and bags, and peel coating with wax, or physiological regulators have been studied to extend the shelf life of yellow passion fruit, but information about the effects of using those practices in tandem treatments after harvest is still limited. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effects of fruit coating with a cytokinin and a wax. Fruits of the ‘M’ yellow passion fruit selection were harvested when their peel surface was 90-100% yellow. The fruits were washed with chlorinated water, immersed in aqueous solutions of benzyladenine (BA) at 0, 5, 10, or 20 mg L^‑1 for 180 s, and then allowed to air-dry. From each BA rate, 10 fruits were coated with a solution of carnauba wax, while another set of 10 did not receive the wax coating. The fruits were stored in a room at 22±2.4°C for 21 days. Fruits coated with wax lost less weight and were aesthetically more marketable as fresh fruit than those without wax coating. BA did not significantly contribute to enhancing the effect of wax on the conservation of ‘M’ yellow passion fruit.