Abstract
Sweet cherry is one of the most appreciated fruit by consumers since it is an early season fruit and has an excellent quality. In this study effect of active nano composite formed from chitosan (as a matrix material), nano cellulose fiber (1% concentration) and Thyme oils (Tymus Vulgaris L) at 1% concentration on fruits quality was investigated. Treated fruits were stored at 1°C for 5 weeks and changes of different qualities attributes including weight loss, total acidity, TSS, anthocyanin, total sugar and malic acid content (by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method) were measured each week. Results showed that nano composite and Thyme oil significantly affect fruit's water retention and so decrease fruit weight loss and preserve anthocyanin (P < 0.05). None of applied treatments had any significant effects in comparison with control in regard to acidity while total sugar content and TSS significantly affected by treatment compared to control samples. Result of HPLC analysis showed that there was no significant difference between different treatment and control sample in term of malic acid concentrations during storage period but increase storage time lead to increase malic acid concentration in all treatments. For conclusion it can be Saied that fruits coating with nano-composite, lead to increase fruit shelf life, better appearance and prevents fungal growth that may be due to creation of an active packaging by these compounds.
Highlights
Sweet cherry due to early season fruit ripening and excellent quality is one of the most popular fruit by consumers
Results of malic acid analysis using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method showed that the concentration of malic acid in control samples was preserved with an increasing trend from 1st week to 3rd of storage periods (Fig. 2)
The final conclusion of malic acid analysis among the applied treatments indicated that 3 weeks of storage is the most acceptable storage period for essential oil and nano composite treatments, whereas there was no significant difference between applied treatments in term of of malic acid concentration during storage period
Summary
Sweet cherry due to early season fruit ripening and excellent quality is one of the most popular fruit by consumers. Postharvest loss of quality in cherries is characterized by bruising of the skin, softening and loss of acidity (Bernalte et al 2003), drying and browning of the stem (Kappel et al 2002) and by fungal diseases caused mainly by Monilinia fructicola, Botrytis cinerea (Ganji Moghadam and Bosari 2009) and Penicillium expansum This fungal spoilage can lead to great economic losses, the occurrence of rots and their influence on sweet cherry quality have been reported to be dependent on cultivar and ripening stage at harvesting time (Esti et al 2002; Kappel et al 2002). According to the introduction the aim of this study was investigation the alteration of quality attributes and reduction of decays in cherry fruit by use of edible coatings (nano composite) formed from chitosan and nano cellulose and Thyme oils (Tymus Vulgaris L) during storage periods
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