QUALITY OF PINEAPPLE COMMERCIALIZED BY COOPERFRUTO - MIRANORTE, TOCANTINS, BRAZIL

The producers of Tocantins have to keep or to improve the standard of quality of its fruits, to guarantee a good commercialization. Aiming at to collaborate with the evaluation of this quality, this work objectified to evaluate the quality of the commercialized fruits of pineapple in the Cooperfruto Cooperative in Miranorte - Tocantins and to verify if these fruits are obeying the minimum standards demanded for commercialization aiming at the consumption in natura. The collection of data was carried through from November 2006 to May 2007 where fruits of 'Perola' cultivar that were commercialized by the cooperative had been analyzed monthly. In each month physicochemical analysis of fruits proceeding from the producing cities that are part of the cooperative had been done. The parameters analyzed included: weight of the fruit with and without crown, weight of the crown, length of the fruit with and without crown, diameter of the fruit, pH of the fruit juice, income of fruit juice content, titratable acidity (TA), total soluble solids (TSS), and relation SST/ATT. For this evaluation the fruits had been weighed and measured for determination of its classification by the weight, length and diameter and later, these had been peeled, perforated and triturated to make the physicochemical analysis. The weight of the fruit with crown (PFCC) was between 1.335 g and 1.772 g. with the weight of the crown (PC) between 108 g and 214 g. The length of the fruit with crown (CFCC) and length of the fruit without crown (CFSC) were between 35.4 cm and 43.2 cm, and 15.8 cm and 20.3 cm, respectively. The diameter of Cooperfruto pineapple was between 9.8 cm and 10.5 cm, which is less than the average diameter cited in the literature. The total soluble solids (TSS), was presented in the band of 12,4 - 15,7 degrees Brix. PH varied between 4.07 and 4.38. The values of juice income (RS) were between 0.57 and 0,72 g ml(-1). The titratable acidity (TA), presented texts of 0,35 0,65 % of acid citric, relation SST/ATT were between 20,3 - 40,4, and the best relation was gotten in fruits harvested in March. It can be observed that the fruits commercialized by the Cooperfruto Cooperative, are of good quality and are within the minimum standards demanded for commercialization and consumption in natura.