Material evaluation for bagging of cantaloupe melons

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate different materials for field bagging with respect to the physicochemical changes caused in cantaloupe melon fruits. The study was conducted in a protected environment in the city of Goiânia, Goiás in Brazil. The experiment consisted of five treatments, with bagging of cantaloupe melon fruits with four materials (newspaper, Kraft paper, NWF, and polyethylene) and a control treatment without bagging, in a randomized block design with five replications of one plant with a fruit each. Fruits were evaluated for physicochemical characteristics. Number of days from bagging to harvest was also recorded and visual aspects of the fruit were observed. The materials as well as the time interval between the bagging and harvest affect physicochemical characteristics such as accumulation of soluble solids and thickness of the green pulp halo and visual aspects of the fruit. This study recommends bagging cantaloupe melons using white non-woven fabric or to not use the technique at all, under the conditions similar to those used in the study. In addition, using polyethylene for the bagging of fruit is not recommended, because this material has a deleterious effect on the characteristics essential for commercialization of melons.