The effect of chitosan coating containing lemongrass extract on the quality of dehydrated sliced quince during storage

The fruit, with the scientific name of Cydonia oblonga comes from apple family, has a dry and fluffy flesh that, due to high vitamin C, Potassium and fiber has commercial and nutritional value. However, this fruit is as corruptible as other fruits and destructive microbial, chemical and mechanical factors that reduce its effective longevity. Enzymatic browning is a major problem for reducing the shelf life of freshly chopped fruits and vegetables. This reaction often occurs due to the activity of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD) enzymes. Blanching is used to deactivate the relevant enzymes. Blanching is done before such processes as drying, canning, and freezing and somewhat determines the quality of the product. Sulfites are multi-functional compounds that inhibit enzymatic and non-enzymatic browning. Dehydration is one of the oldest techniques for keeping food products. Osmotic dehydration process has been emphasized in recent years due to the negative effects of conventional drying procedures, this process is done to partially remove the water from the plant tissue by immersion in a salt or salt solution. Chitosan is non-toxic, biodegradable substance that can be used as an edible coating to maintain the quality and increase the life after the fruits and vegetables harvest. This protective performance improves by adding antimicrobial, antioxidant. The lemongrass extract was added to the chitosan coating as antimicrobial. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of chitosan coating containing lemongrass extract on the shelf life of dehydrated quince fruit slices. Metabisulfite was used in order to prevent the browning reactions of slices prepared from blanching, water vapor and chemical solution of sodium. Then, quince slices are dehydrated with osmotic solutions of sorbitol, sucrose by immersion with chitosan containing (0, 0/5, 1 and 2 % lemongrass extract) coated and kept in sterile plates at refrigeration temperature (4±1˚C) for 4 weeks. The experiment was carried out in factorial method based on a completely randomized design with three iterations. Variables include the type of osmotic solution (sucrose, sorbitol) and coating treatments (chitosan coating containing 0, 0/5, 1 and 2% lemongrass extract). The studied characteristics included weight loss (%), acidity, pH, ascorbic acid concentration, total phenol, inhibitory activity of free radical (RSA), color properties (components L*, a*, b*, BI) of tissue that was investigated in the first, second, third and fourth week.Results & Fruits coated with chitosan containing 2% lemongrass extract had less weight loss changes than other treatments. This can be due to the role of the extract in preventing decay, its antimicrobial properties and the formation of the semipermeable membrane by coating, which prevents weight loss. Edible coatings containing extract, by changing the internal atmosphere and reducing the respiration rate of the fruit, help to maintain better organic acids .Lemongrasses extract causes the delay in the consumption of organic acids in metabolic reactions, including respiration, due to its antioxidant properties. It seems increasing the pH of the fruit is the result of biochemical changes in the fruit during storage time, such as the decomposition of organic acids into sugars and participating the respiratory cycle in which the coating of chitosan containing extract can reduce the breakdown of organic acids by reducing respiration rate. The decrease in the drop of Vitamin C and phenolic compounds of the coated sample is due to oxygen permeation reduction and the creation of adapted atmosphere by coating. The high level of antioxidant activity of lemongrass extract is because of high phenolic compounds of which the highest amount was observed in treatment coated with chitosan containing 2% lemongrass extract. By increasing the concentration of the extract, its phenolic compounds increases which preserve more vitamin C and phenolic compounds and consequently antioxidant properties. Free radical inhibition activity was preserved due to better preservation of phenolic compounds, ascorbic acid and increasing the antioxidant capacity of fruit by chitosan coating containing lemongrass extract. The product brightness decreases during storage. Before the hot-water blanching coating process, sodium metabisulfite and osmotic dehydration have inactivated browning enzymes. Therefore, in quince coated with chitosan, the amount of color changes was not tangible due to the less respiration and as a result, less enzymatic activity of fruit. Coating containing lemongrass extract has created due to the color of coating extract with the green-tinted color. The increase in the extract concentration reduces the redness and increases the greenness of fruit, which is because of the extract color and as the effect increases, the concentration increases. By decreasing the brightness, increasing the greenness and yellowness during storage time and the browning increased. In quince coated with chitosan, the amount of softening wasn’t tangible due to less respiration and as a result, less enzymatic activity of fruit. As the concentration of lemongrass increases the stiffness of the tissue is reduced due to the effect of lemongrass on the fruit tissue cells that cause structural changes. Based on the results, the edible coating containing 2% lemongrass extract is suggested as the best formulation.