A Cassava Starch–Chitosan Edible Coating Enriched with Lippia sidoides Cham. Essential Oil and Pomegranate Peel Extract for Preservation of Italian Tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) Stored at Room Temperature

Abstract

The effect of edible cassava starch–chitosan coatings incorporated with rosemary pepper (Lippia sidoides Cham.) essential oil and pomegranate peel extract on the shelf-life of tomatoes during storage at 25 °C for 12 days was investigated. Sixteen formulations, containing 10 g L−1 cassava starch and various concentrations of chitosan (5, 10, 20, 30 g L−1), essential oil (0, 2.5, 5, 10 mL L−1) and pomegranate peel extract (0, 5, 10, 20 mL L−1) were prepared and applied to tomatoes. Physical–chemical and microbiological analyses were performed on days 1, 4, 8 and 12. Most of the coatings delayed the ripening of tomatoes, lowering the total soluble solids (38−44 g sucrose kg−1) and weight loss (93−128 g kg−1) and maintaining constant firmness compared to the uncoated tomatoes (45 g sucrose kg−1, 175 g kg−1) at 12 days of storage. Conversely, except red intensity (a*), which was higher for the uncoated samples, the colour parameters (L*, b*) of the coated and control tomatoes were similar at the end of storage. Uncoated and coated tomatoes showed no contamination during storage. The coatings showed potential to maintain the quality of tomatoes during storage at 25 °C for 12 days. In this context, tomatoes coated with the formulation comprising 10 g L−1 cassava starch, 10 g L−1 chitosan, 10 mL L−1 essential oil and 20 mL L−1 pomegranate peel extract showed the lowest weight loss and reduced total soluble solids content compared with uncoated ones.