Examination of chitosan and extracted coating on qualitative, physicochemical and microbial properties of apple fruit during cold storage

Apples are one of the most important horticultural products that are increasingly considered for care and post-harvest issues. Therefore, it is necessary to use safe methods to control spoilage and maintain the quality of apple fruit during storage. Cinnamon (Cinnamomum blume), known as the camphor tree, native to Asia and Australia, has about 50 species of evergreen trees and shrubs. Some of them are ornamental, fragrant or like Ceylon cinnamon, a tree with medicinal properties. Cinnamon essential oil has antifungal and antibacterial properties, which are probably related to the content of orthometoxy cinnamaldehyde. Chitosan is used in antimicrobial films and food films due to its inhibitory properties of many pathogens and fungi. Chitosan is able to form a semi-permeable layer on the skin of the fruit. As a result, the rate of fruit respiration reduces fruit quality and is effective in increasing fruit storage time.This study was conducted to investigate the effect of chitosan and extracted coating on increasing the quality and Shelf life of apple fruit.

Fruits treated with chitosan (1.5%) and three levels of cinnamon extract (three concentrations of 0%, 5%, 10%) with control were in cold stored at 0.5˚C and 90% of relative humidity., and during maintenance period, various physicochemical, microbial, and sensory tests were performed in three months. These experiments were analyzed in a completely randomized design by SAS software.

The differences in the characteristics between the treated fruits compared to the controller showed the effectiveness of the treatments in most quantitative and qualitative characteristics of apple fruit. For example, the highest tissue stiffness in the second month, with 30.65 N / m2, and the lowest weight loss and overall microbial count with 2.87% and 15.33 CFU / g, respectively, in the third month of use Cinnamon extract was combined with chitosan and the comparison of mean Tss, pH and acidity of apple fruit in the application of treatments showed that the highest percentage of soluble solids (Tss) was related to the application of chitosan with 10% cinnamon and also the highest pH and consequently the lowest acidity. To witness. Among the measured characteristics, weight loss, stiffness, acidity, soluble solids and overall microbial count were the most significant.

The results showed that the effect of treatment on most traits was significant . Comparative studies between control samples, chitosan and cinnamon extract proved that the storage period of apple fruit can be increased by controlling microbial load and maintaining fruit quality.