Impact of gum arabic and cactus mucilage as potential coating substances combined with calcium chloride treatment on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) fruit quality attributes under ambient storage conditions

Abstract

The current work investigates the impact of postharvest applications of calcium chloride (CaCl2) in combination with either 10% gum arabic or 50% cactus mucilage on the quality parameters and storability of tomato fruit (Izmir variety), at ambient storage conditions [21 ± 1 °C, relative humidity (RH) 45% ± 2%]. The tomato fruits were dipped in 6% CaCl2 for 10 min and then coated with either 10% gum arabic or 50% cactus mucilage for 3 min. During the time-course of storage, the fruit attributes, such as fresh fruit weight loss, fruit decay, firmness, titratable acidity (TA), total soluble solids (TSS), and color development were assessed. The results revealed a significant (P ≤ 0.05) effect of fruit postharvest treatment with 6% CaCl2 for 10 min combined with postharvest coating treatments with either 10% gum arabic or 50% cactus mucilage for 3 min on reducing fruit fresh weight loss, and decay percent of fruits. Fruit firmness, TA, and TSS were preserved compared with untreated fruit. In addition, treated fruits took more time to develop from pink to full red compared with untreated fruit. Hence, coating with natural substances combined with CaCl2 preserved the overall quality parameters and enhanced the shelf life of tomato fruit even after three weeks of storage at ambient temperature.