KEEPING THE QUALITY AND EXTENDING SHELF-LIFE OF STRAWBERRIES FRUIT BY USING ARBIC GUM AS EDIBLE COATING

Document Type : Original Article

Abstract

Coating of strawberries fruit with Arabic gum has been found to enhance their shelf-life and postharvest quality. Arabic gum in aqueous solutions of 5,10, 15 and 20% were applied as a novel edible coating to gardener-mature strawberries which were stored at 20C and 80–90% Relative humidity (RH) for 10 days. Fruit coated with 10% Arabic gum showed a significant (P0.05) delay in changes of weight, firmness, titratable acidity, soluble solids concentration, ascorbic acid content, decay percentage and color development compared to uncoated fruit control. Sensory evaluation proved the efficacy of 10% Arabic gum coating by maintaining the overall quality of strawberries fruit during the storage period. The results suggest that by using 10% Arabic gum as an edible coating, the ripening process can be delayed
and the storage life of strawberries stored at 20C and at the breaker stage can be extended up to 10 days without any spoilage and off-flavor.

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