Abstract
ABSTRACT Strawberry is a fruit appreciated throughout the world due to its attractive quality attributes and stands out due to its high phenolic compound content, which positively contribute to biological properties of nutritional interest. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of cassava starch coatings incorporated with propolis combinations on the phytochemical content and the maintenance and increase of the strawberry antioxidant activity. The treatments were 3% cassava starch (CS), 3% cassava starch + 33% ethanolic propolis extract (CS + P33%), 3% cassava starch + 66% ethanolic propolis extract (CS + P66%) and control (C). The fruits were stored at 4 °C ± 0.5 ºC and 90%RH for 16 days, making up a completely randomized design with 4 treatments and 5 time evaluations. Vitamin C, phenolic compound, anthocyanin, and antioxidant activity levels were evaluated through two methods. The coating with 66% of propolis promoted higher Vitamin C content than fruits submitted to the other treatments at 8 and 12 days of storage. For antioxidant activity, fruits treated with CS maintained a higher FRS percentage (free radical scavenging) at all time evaluations. Control fruits presented higher anthocyanin content at the last evaluation time when the highest antioxidant capacity, by the ABTS method (2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid)), was observed in fruits with CS and CS + P66% treatments. There was an increase tendency of the phenolic content during storage in all evaluated fruits. The propolis concentrations used, however, were not sufficient to increase or maintain the antioxidant capacity and phenolic contents of strawberries.
Highlights
The strawberry (Fragaria ananassa Duch.) belongs to the Rosaceae family and is one of the most consumed and currently investigated nonclimacteric fruits, having appearance, firmness, flavor and antioxidant content as its principal quality attributes (Vandendriessche et al, 2012)
There was a tendency towards an increase in the levels during storage for fruits of all treatments, those coated with cassava starch (CS) + P66% presenting a higher content than fruits submitted to the other treatments at 8 and 12 days, while at those same evaluation times, the non-coated fruits had the lowest levels
According to Chiumarelli and Hubinger (2012), cassava starch-based coatings can assist in reducing water loss, but when relating the increased vitamin C content during storage to the high water loss, it is found that the use of the coating was not effective for this purpose
Summary
The strawberry (Fragaria ananassa Duch.) belongs to the Rosaceae family and is one of the most consumed and currently investigated nonclimacteric fruits, having appearance, firmness, flavor and antioxidant content as its principal quality attributes (Vandendriessche et al, 2012). Interest in the application of such treatments is becoming more popular due to the environmental protection feature and potential use in the food industry (Zahid et al, 2012). These materials allow the addition of active compounds in their formulation, which may increase functional properties in order to enable them as potential alternatives in food preservation (SánchezGonzález et al, 2011)
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