Indices to evaluate postharvest quality of guavas under different maturation stages

The aim of this work was to determine the maturation indices to evaluate the influence of maturation stages on physical and chemical transformation in guavas (Psidium guajava cv. Pedro Sato) after harvest. Guavas were harvested at maturation stages, according to the skin color, I (dark green), 2 (light green) and stage 3 (yellowish green), stored at 25+/-degreesC and 85+/-5% RH, and assessed for physical and chemical transformations and decay. At harvest, the three maturation stages presented distinct results of skin color, pulp firmness and total soluble solids total titratable acidity ratio. During the ripening, physical and chemical transformations were similar among the maturation stages. The postharvest life of stages 3, 2 and 1, was two, four and six days, respectively. The total soluble solids content, total titratable acidity and ascorbic acid presented low correlated coefficient with all variables studied. The skin color, the Pulp firmness and the total soluble solids/total titratable acidity ratio can be considered acceptable maturation indexes for guava 'Pedro Sato'.