Determination of harvest time and quality of native camu-camu fruits (

Introduction. Camu-camu (Myrciaria dubia (Kunth) Mc Vaugh) is a fruit species of the Myrtaceae family. It presents great economic potential due to its nutritional and antioxidant capacity and high vitamin C contents, reaching 7355 mg ascorbic acid 100 g-1 pulp. The present work aimed to determine the harvest time and quality of camu-camu native fruits during storage. Materials and methods. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design with three replications, containing 30 fruits each, in a factorial scheme (3×8), composed of three different maturation stages (immature, semi-mature and mature) and eight days of storage. Fruits were evaluated every day regarding the following variables: loss of fresh mass, pH, soluble solid contents (SS), titratable acidity (TA), ascorbic acid (AA), chlorophyll A and B content, and the maturation index (SS:TA). Results and discussion. Fruits at the semi-mature stage presented the greatest amount of ascorbic acid, conserving the quality attributes (SS, AT and fresh mass) and the ascorbic acid contents for longer. Fruits at the immature stage presented the highest values for chlorophylls A and B, and this stage is also recommended for the extraction of these biocompounds. Conclusion. The recommended harvest time of the camu-camu fruit is the semi-mature stage, when the fruit presents better quality and a longer shelf life, and conserves the desired nutritional values for longer