SENSORIAL QUALITY OF 'IMPERIAL' PINEAPPLE FRUITS CULTIVATED IN MACRONUTRIENT AND BORON DEFICIENCIES

The marketing of pineapple has been expanding in the world mainly by its appreciable characteristics of flavor, aroma and color. The mineral nutrition of the plant exerts an accentuated influence on the chemical composition of pineapple. The inexistence of information on the influence of mineral deficiency on the quality of the 'Imperial' pineapple fruits motivated the accomplishment of a green house experiment of the North Fluminense State University, in Campos dos Goytacazes, RI, in the period from 2003 to 2005 to evaluate the effects of the macronutrients and boron deficiencies on the physico- chemical composition and sensorial quality of fruits. The experimental unit consisted of a 14 L plastic pot filled with purified sand and a seedling of that cultivar. The following treatments were used: complete, - N, - P, - K, - Ca, - Mg, - S and B, applied as nutrient solutions, in randomized complete blocks, with six replicates. The following characteristics were measured in the fruits: firmness, juice concentration, TA, TSS, TSS/TA, vitamin C, pH, coloration and the sensorial analysis of the pulp. The deficiencies of N and K increased the pulp firmness but of S reduced it. The deficiencies of N and S increased the TA and the concentration of vitamin C but they reduced the relationship TSS/TA, the coloration of the pulp and the pH. The deficiency of K reduced TSS and of Ca and S increased it. The deficiencies of N and K reduced the sensorial acceptance of the fruits. The deficiencies of P, Mg and B did not alter the sensory properties of pineapple.