Effect of tapioca starch coated-rubberwood box incorporated with essential oils on the postharvest ripening and quality control of mangosteen during transportation

Abstract

Mangosteen fruit distribution is limited due to their quality, shelf-life and their serious postharvest losses during handling, transportation, and distribution. Application of antimicrobial packaging box in fruit transportation proffers good stacking strength, excellent cushioning, better shelf-life retention and fruit quality for efficient marketing and customer acceptability. Thus, this study was aimed at controlling postharvest ripening and quality of mangosteen fruit during transportation using tapioca starch coated-rubberwood box containing essential oils. Three essential oil treatments namely, 0.8% of essential oil emulsion of peppermint and lime oil at ratio 1:3 (POLO); of peppermint oil (PO); and of lime oil (LO) were, applied on wood box surface. Each box contained 8 kg of mangosteen transported within Thailand by train for 6 days at ambient temperature (~25 ± 3 °C). Mold appearance, ripening stage and the color changes in the fruits were assessed. Other quality parameters including pH, titratable acidity, total soluble solids, total phenolic contents, and fruit firmness of were evaluated before and after transportation. Fruit treated with POLO and PO only attained stage 2 on ripening scale (pink blush on yellow background), while the LO and control group were ripened to stage 4 (red) after transportation. The POLO and PO treatments were more efficient in delaying mold growth, maintained color changes, weight loss, acidity and total soluble solids when compared with other treatments. Total phenolic contents were significantly higher (P < 0.05) with POLO (148.56 ± 0.03) with least value recorded in untreated mangosteen (58.98 ± 0.05). Interestingly, POLO-treated wood box was less subjected to fluctuations in the chemical compositions as displayed by attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Combination of POLO (1:3) incorporated into tapioca starch coating could be applied as a fungicide on rubberwood surface for enhanced antimicrobial activity and in preserving wood quality. Also, shelf-life quality and consumer acceptability of fruit could be preserved during transportation and storage.