ABSTRACT
Ripe fruits of Barbados cherry Malpighia glabra L. proceeding from the fruit-growing section of Iguatemi Experimental Farm of Universidade Estadual de Maringa (PR), were triturated in liquefier and hulled in a stainless steel sieve with 25 mesh. The bagasse (seeds and hull) was discarded and the vitamin C content was immediately determined, which was 1,79 g by 100 g of pulp. After that, the integral pulp was packed in glass flasks and submitted to the exhaustion and pasteirization processes and then hermitically closed. After the heat treatment the vitamin C content was 1,54 by 100 g of pulp. The sealed flasks of Barbados cherry pulp, with and without the aluminum foil protection, were stored for 40 days. The first portion was kept at room temperature, the second in a refrigerator (1 degrees Celsius), and the third ain a freezer (-18 degrees Celsius). The vitamin C content analysis were realized on the 5th 10th, 15th 20th, 30th and 40 th day. For the flasks stored without the aluminum foil protection there was a loss of 22,08 per cent, 7,79 per cent and 1,30 per cent and with aluminum foil the loss was of 10,40 per cent, 3,90 per cent and 1,30 per cent for the storage at room, referigeration and freezing temperatures, respectively. The results show that freezing method is the best form of vitamin C preservation.