Performance evaluation of cassava peels starch-based edible coating incorporated with chitosan on the shelf-life of fresh-cut pineapples (Ananas comosus)

Abstract

Postharvest treatment is one of the important factors that affected the shelf-life of fresh-cut pineapples (Ananas comosus). Pineapples have a short shelf life, that is 2-3 days after harvest without cold storage. Recently, the application of edible coatings is widely used to extend the shelf-life of pineapples. The edible coating can be produced from alginate, starch, chitosan, or aloe vera as the main composition. In this study, it is purposed to prolonged the storability of pineapples using starch-based edible coating combined with chitosan. Starch is obtained from cassava peels because they contain 44-59% of starch. On the other hand, chitosan acts as a stabilizer and antimicrobial agent. Furthermore, glycerol is added as a plasticizer in order to increase the elasticity of the edible film. The edible coating was prepared using various compositions of starch and glycerol (in % w/v), then 1% w/v of chitosan dissolved in ascorbic acid was added to the solution. The fresh-cut pineapples were dip-coated into the mixture. Subsequently, they were stored in the refrigerator at 12°C. Physicochemical properties of cassava peels starch-based edible coating were examined by functional groups analysis, solubility analysis, and pH measurement. The results showed that chitosan-modified edible coating with 5 % w/v of starch-0.6 ml/gr of glycerol can prolong the shelf-life of pineapples to 14 days. It had 58.46% solubility and 18% of increasing pH within 14 days. In addition, this variable obtained the highest score of overall acceptance in organoleptic evaluation, which was 5.47 out of 7.