| Popis: |
The postharvest management of cochineal insects Dactylopius coccus Costa, it is known like one of the most important processes within cochineal insect’s production system, because it is necessary to maintain the higher percentage of carminic acid that the insect acquired during its development on the cactus. In this project, the principal objective was to compare the influence between three sacrifice methods and two ways of drying in the content of carminic acid, it was used the next methodology: three methods of sacrifice were selected (freezer, suffocation and hot water); and the two drying technics were, let the insect exposed to the sun and under the shadow. When then cochineal insects were dried, the content of carminic acid was measured in the laboratory by a spectrophotometric method. As a result, it was observed that, of the three sacrifice methods, that of suffocation (17.47% ± 0.5) and that of freezing (17.36% ± 0.5), obtained the highest content of carminic acid, and with respect to the drying technique, the Grana dehydrated in the sun had a higher value of carminic acid (17.05% ± 0.5), compared to that found in shade (16.89%.% ± 0.5). |
