VIDA ÚTIL PÓS-COLHEITA DE MELANCIA SUBMETIDA A DIFERENTES TEMPERATURAS DE ARMAZENAMENTO

The purpose of this study was to determine the post harvest shelf life of ‘Crimson Sweet’ watermelon fruit which is yielded in the ‘Gangorra’ commercial planting 20 km from MossoroRN-Brazil. The fruits were harvested and transported to the Post harvest Fruits Laboratory of the Escola Superior de Agricultura de Mossoro-ESAM. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design in a 3 x 7 factorial scheme with five replicates. The first considered factor was the storage temperature (10 o C, 12 o C and ambient temperature) and the second factor was the storage time (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 days). The following traits were evaluated during this period: internal and external fruit appearance, pulp firmness, total titratable acidity, pH, total soluble solids and content total soluble sugars. The ‘Crimson Sweet’ watermelon had 25 days of post harvest shelf life. The best temperature was 10 oC, that maintained the external and internal appearances with superior note to 3,0 that’s considered commercial, soluble solids above 10,5 g  100 mL -1 and total sugars 9,44 g 100 mL -1 .