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Effect of edible quinoa protein-chitosan based films on refrigerated strawberry ( Fragaria × ananassa ) quality
Valenzuela, Carolina; Tapia, Cristian; López, Luis; Bunger, Andrea; Escalona, Victor & Abugoch, Lilian
Abstract
Background:
Strawberries are non-climacteric fruits with a low respiration rate, but are subject to serious fungal
deterioration during postharvest handling. The edible coatings based on chitosan (CH), quinoa protein-chitosan
(Q/CH) and quinoa protein-chitosan-sunflower oil (Q/CH/SO) may provide a solution to this problem. Thus, in
this work CH, Q/CH and Q/CH/SO were elaborated and applied to fresh strawberries, and its effect on the
strawberries shelf life during storage for 15 d was evaluated by mold and yeast count, fungal decay, carbon
dioxide rate, physicochemical properties, and sensory evaluation.
Results:
On all analysis days, the strawberries coated with the film-forming CH, Q/CH and Q/CH/SO solutions
presented a significant lower amount of mold and yeast growth than the uncoated strawberries. Coated
strawberries with Q/CH/SO decreased the CO2 emission rate by 60% compared to the uncoated strawberries.
The color of the strawberries was not influenced by the films. There was no significant difference between the
different coating groups and the uncoated group in the physicochemical parameters. Sensory analysis showed
that the coating application retained the total sensorial quality.
Conclusions:
Fresh strawberries coated with CH, Q/CH/SO and Q/CH edible films had longer shelf lives than
uncoated fruits.
Keywords
Chitosan; Edible films; Quinoa protein; Strawberry; Sunflower oil
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