Qualidade de frutos de tangerineira ‘Dancy’ colhidos de plantas de diferentes municípios do território da Borborema.

Abstract

The production of tangerine (Citrus reticulata Blanco) in Brazil reached 1,004,727 tons in 2011, exceeded only by China and Spain that emerge as major world producers. The Paraíba state contributed with 2% of the country's production of tangerine in 2011, with 15.670 tons, ranking the 6th position in the national production, with a productivity of 8.93 ton.ha-1, which is below the national average that is 18 ton.ha-¹. The tangerine 'Dancy' is the most widely planted cultivar, mostly on the municipalities of Matinhas, Alagoa Nova, and São Sebastião de Lagoa de Roça, located at the Territory of Borborema, that stand out as the three largest producers in Paraíba State. The lack of standardization in quality of tangerine 'Dancy' produced and marketed in that region makes the offer of this fruit to the market varied as for size, color, and limit of acceptable defects. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of tangerine cv. Dancy harvested during maturation in the plant from different municipalities of the Territory of Borborema. Tagerine 'Dancy' were harvested at four maturity stages from October to November 2011 from three commercial plantations located at the municipalities of Alagoa Nova, Esperança, and Lagoa Seca, located at the Territory of Borborema, Paraíba State, Brazil. Fruits were transported to the Laboratorio de Biologia e Tecnologia Pós Colheita, Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal da Paraiba, being classified, based on skin color, in four maturity stages: green (V), predominantly green (PV) with orangish nuances, green partially orangish (PA), predominant orangish (LP). The color parameters L * and C increased with the advance of maturation; the Hue angle (oH) decreased with the development of color of the skin. The soluble solids, SS / TA ratio, reducing (RS) and non-reducing sugars (ANR), and flavonoids increased as maturation progressed. The firmness and contents of ascorbic acid decreased as maturation advanced. During maturation was observed that the content of total extractable polyphenols-PET increased until the maturity stage PA. Tangerines harvested at the maturity stages PV and PA presented the highest antioxidant activity.