Postharvest of four ecotypes of mexican plum (Spondias purpurea L.) grown in Morelos, Mexico

Mexico has a great diversity of Mexican plum, a fruit tree with a lot of potential to be commercially cultivated, but few post-harvest studies have been carried out on known ecotypes. The objective of this study was to characterize the postharvest behavior of four Mexican plum ecotypes grown in Morelos, Mexico, this information is basic to develop postharvest technologies oriented to increase shelf-life. Fruits of ‘Amarilla’, ‘Castilla’, ‘Chapilla’ and ‘Roja’ Mexican plum (Spondias purpurea L.) with epidermal color development of 50 or 75 % were collected to determine some changes during ripening. Results suggested that 'Amarilla' and 'Chapilla' showed a maximum respiration peak 3 d after harvest with significant differences between ripening stages. Respiration decreased constantly with no differences between ripening stages for 'Castilla' and 'Roja'. Hue (h*) decreased from yellow color tendency (63 ≤ h* ≤ 86) to orange and red color (31 ≤ h* ≤ 67), with differences between ripening stages. Lightness (L*) reduced from 46-48 % to 31-32 % and chroma (C*) increased from 18-25 to 36-42, suggesting that the color purity increased during ripening. Total soluble solids and titratable acidity increased from 9.4 to 15.5 °Brix and from 0.27 to 0.48 %, respectively, with significant differences between ripening stages at the beginning of the experiment, which were not maintained during ripening. Vitamin C increased during ripening in the four ecotypes and no differences were detected between ripening stages. In conclusion, differences in behavior were detected among ecotypes evaluated with few differences attributed to harvest maturity, which should be considered in the development of postharvest technologies for this species.