Abstract
The current work aimed to evaluate the efficacy of four coating formulations—chitosan coating (CH), 0.5% cinnamaldehyde + chitosan (0.5% CI–CH), 1.0% cinnamaldehyde + chitosan (1.0% CI–CH), and 1.5% cinnamaldehyde + chitosan (1.5% CI–CH)—on fresh mandarin fruit cv. Ponkan quality maintenance (weight loss, decay rate, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, vitamin C, color index, malondialdehyde, and antioxidant activity) over 100 days of storage at 20 °C. Compared to the control, chitosan treatment effectively reduced the decay and weight loss rates of mandarin fruit cv. Ponkan during storage at room temperature, delayed the decline of nutritional quality in fruits, increased the antioxidant capacity, and inhibited the accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA). In comparison to chitosan coating, 1.5% CI–CH did not improve the fruit storage effect, but inhibited the normal color change of fruits and increased the accumulation of MDA. Both 0.5% CI–CH and 1.0% CI–CH effectively reduced the rate of fruit decay, improved the quality of fruits after harvest, and delayed fruit aging. Our study suggests that 0.5% CI–CH and 1.0% CI–CH might be good formulations for maintaining the quality of mandarin fruit cv. Ponkan during room-temperature storage.
Highlights
Citrus is the most important commodity fruit in the world and the most widely cultivated fruit tree type in the subtropics of China
This study determined the effects of different concentrations of cinnamaldehyde–chitosan coating on the color and quality of Ponkan fruits during storage at room temperature (20 ◦ C). This could provide a theoretical basis for the application of cinnamaldehyde–chitosan coating on citrus fruits
During storage at room temperature, the weight loss rate of each sample gradually increased and reached the maximum at 100 days of storage (Figure 1). This could be due to a water vapor pressure gradient in different compartments of the fruit cell tissue, through which moisture was transferred from the fruit into the immediate environment [32]
Summary
The senescence of fruit is related to the activity of antioxidant enzymes such as catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), and superoxide dismutase (SOD), which are the most important for scavenging reactive oxygen species They can delay aging caused by oxidative damage during fruit storage [26]. This study determined the effects of different concentrations of cinnamaldehyde–chitosan coating on the color and quality of Ponkan fruits during storage at room temperature (20 ◦ C). This could provide a theoretical basis for the application of cinnamaldehyde–chitosan coating on citrus fruits
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