The effects of harvesting stage and chitosan coating on quality and shelf-life of Physalis angulata L.

Ripening of fruit includes major physiological and biochemical changes that change the color, taste, fruit aroma, texture and nutritional value of fruits.During storage and after the full ripening of fruits, if the fruit is not consumed or processed, over-ripe, and their quality is decaying rapidly. Since the harvest at the right time can improve the shelf life of fruits, therefore, the effect of harvesting stage and chitosan coating were studied on shelf-life and quality of physalis fruit. The experiment was conducted in factorial based on a completely randomized design with three replications. Treatments consisted of harvesting stage (green mature, yellowish green and yellow) and chitosan coating (0, 0.5 and 1 percent). Fruits were stored at 15 °C for 30 days. Results showed that the harvesting stage and different levels of chitosan coating had significant effects on quality and shelf-life of fruits during storage time. With fruit maturity, weight loss, vitamin C, carotenoid contents and flavor index significantly increased, and chlorophyll content, Total phenol and TA decreased. Chitosan coating treatment delayed decreasing of chlorophyll content, water loss, total phenol, TA, fruit maturity and color change. During storage time, the highest weight loss, flavor index and vitamin C, was observed in control fruits. Also, mature green fruit treated with 0.5 percent chitosan had the highest quality during storage time.