Sensory characterization of crimson sweet watermelon cultivated in an organic production system in the north of Piauí

Abstract

Faced with the challenges of producing with quality and safety, even through non-conventional
production models, agriculture has been passing through a process of continuous transition in
the search for alternative production of self-sustaining systems. The objective of this work was
to evaluate the post-harvest quality, through sensorial analysis of Crimson Sweet watermelon
fruits produced in organic system in pre-planting with legumes and application of bio-fertilizers.
The sensorial test was carried out at the Universidade Estadual do Piauí (State University of Piauí), Campus Professor Alexandre Alves de Oliveira, and the evaluation of the attribute was
attended by untrained tasters, among them students, teachers and staff of the institution. It
were evaluated fruits of the cultivated Crimson Sweet, grown in an organic production system,
and fruits from a conventional system, obtained from local producers, in the municipality of Parnaíba-
PI. It was presented simultaneously encoded samples (both organic and conventional).
It was up to the evaluator to identify the samples according to the variables. The sensorial test
of the fruits of watermelon constitutes a test of affective acceptance, using a hedonic scale of 5
points anchored in extremes of 1 – disgusted greatly, 2 - disliked, 3 – nor liked / not disliked, 4
– liked, 5 – I liked it very much, to 59 tasters. From the total of testers submitted to the test, it is
observed that 58.6% prefer the consumption of organic watermelon. Therefore, it is concluded
that the watermelon grown in the organic system presents good quality and recognized flavour,
emphasizing that it is possible to obtain organic fruits with excellent organoleptic quality levels.