Postharvest shelf-life and fruit quality of strawberry grown in different cropping systems

The strawberry is highly perishable, has high metabolic activity and considerable levels of favorable substrates for proliferation of pathogenic organisms, such as humidity, organic acids and sugars. These organisms lead to further, therefore reducing post-harvest shelf-life. With this in mind, the research objective was to evaluate the post-harvest shelf life in cooled storage of two cultivars of strawberries (Oso Grande and Festival) in the hydroponic cultivation system in coconut fiber substrate, and then compare them with the quality obtained in conventional farming. The strawberries were stored under refrigeration (2 ± 2°C and 85% ± 10%) using modified atmosphere, with 9 µ PVC film for 14 days. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design, distributed in a sub-subdivided plot with the cropping systems in the plot, cultivars in the subplot and in the sub-subplot with storage times of 0, 3, 6, 10 and 14 days with three replicates. The use of cooling associated with modified atmosphere increased the shelf-life of the strawberries of both systems, indicating the potential of this combination to maintain the post-harvest quality of the fruit. Although the shelf life of cultivars of both systems increased, the fruits produced in the conventional system showed better physical-chemical characteristics.   Key word: Fragaria x ananassa, cold storage, conservation, modified atmosphere.