Postharvest quality preservation and control of fungal rot in sweet pepper using chitosan edible coating

Chitosan in addition to antimicrobial properties is used as an edible coating for improvement storage life of various fruit and vegetables. Weight loss and fungal rot, are the main limiting factors in sweet pepper postharvest life. Therefore in this study the effects of chitosan at concentration of 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2% were investigated on the quality preservation and fungal rot controlling of sweet pepper during storage period. For that, fruit were dipped at different chitosan solutions and after drying were stored for 28 days in 10˚C and 95% RH. After storage, fruit traits such as weight loss, diseases incidence, marketability, firmness, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid content, dry weight, electrolyte leakage, total phenol content, antioxidant capacity, chlorophyll and carotenoid content and catalase activity were analyzed. Results showed that treated fruits, showed lower weight loss as well as lower fungal disease in comparison to control fruit, however, treated fruit had higher marketability, firmness, total phenol content, titratable acidity, total soluble solid and catalase activity. The positive effects of chitosan improve with increasing its concentration. According to these results, it has been recommended that chitosan ability to extend the storage life of sweet pepper fruit.