Strawberry fruits have a very short shelf-life owing to their high degree of
perishability. This study aimed to determine the efficacy of chitosan (CH)
incorporated with olive oil residues (OOR) coatings on overall quality of coldstored
strawberry fruits compared to watery wax incorporated with thiabendazole.
Strawberries were sprayed after infected with Rhizopus stolonifer with six different
coating formulas and uncoated fruits. Indeed, all freshness and microbiological
parameters were significantly increased in uncoated fruits compared to coated
fruits. Amazingly, the coated strawberry using CH-OOR 2% was reduced
significantly the gradual decline in their contents of total phenolics, flavonoids and
their antioxidants. Likewise, it was the lowest fruits in decayed area, fungal count
and malondialdehyde development. Then, fruits were coated with CH-OOR
showed uniform coating distribution, since it was impossible to see any pores.
Therefore, coating treatments with CH-OOR was improved the membrane integrity and increased the keeping quality.
Edible coatings could be an effective way for delaying the ripening process and
extending the shelf-life stability of strawberry during postharvest. The effectiveness
of chitosan (CH)-olive oil residue (OOR) as a novel edible coating, in comparison
with watery wax-thiabendazole was approved. The applicability of those films to
maintain microbiological and freshness quality in strawberry during postharvest
was succeed. Incorporation of OOR into CH increased its antifungal property
against R. stolonifer in vivo and in vitro. Coating by CH-OOR reduced phenolics,
flavonoids and antioxidants decomposition in coated fruits compared to uncoated.
CH-OOR was able to slow down the gas exchange by reducing the CO2 of coated
strawberry, which reduced their malondialdehyde development. Commercially,
CH-OOR could be explored as a novel and potential natural coating to substitute
the synthetic agents in fruit packaging industries. The coating cost could increase
the total cost about 6–8% where shelf-life and keeping quality was improved. |
