Abstract
Today, the most significant challenge encountered by food manufacturers is degradation in the food quality during storage, which is countered by expensive packing, which causes enormous monetary and environmental costs. Edible packaging is a potential alternative for protecting food quality and improving shelf life by delaying microbial growth and providing moisture and gas barrier properties. For the first time, the current article reports the preparation of the new films from Ditriterpenoids and Secomeliacins isolated from Melia azedarach (Dharek) Azadirachta indica plants to protect the quality of fruits. After evaluating these films, their mechanical, specific respirational, coating crystal elongation, elastic, water vapor transmission rate (WVTR), film thickness, and nanoindentation test properties are applied to apple fruit for several storage periods: 0, 3, 6, 9 days. The fruits were evaluated for postharvest quality by screening several essential phytochemical, physiological responses under film coating and storage conditions. It was observed that prepared films were highly active during storage periods. Coated fruits showed improved quality due to the protection of the film, which lowered the transmission rate and enhanced the diffusion rate, followed by an increase in the shelf life. The coating crystals were higher in Film-5 and lower activity in untreated films. It was observed that the application of films through dipping was a simple technique at a laboratory scale, whereas extrusion and spraying were preferred on a commercial scale. The phytochemicals screening of treated fruits during the storage period showed that a maximum of eight important bioactive compounds were present in fruits after the treatment of films. It was resolved that new active films (1–5) were helpful in the effective maintenance of fruit quality and all essential compounds during storage periods. It was concluded that these films could be helpful for fruits growers and the processing industry to maintain fruit quality during the storage period as a new emerging technology.
Highlights
The chemical and physical processes of liquid drying films have a universal history in engineering and protection facilities with appealing requirements and barriers
Comparison of Tensile strength (N), elongation at break (EB), Thickness Elongation (%), and water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) changes in new films Significant differences were found in tensile strength and films activity
It is noticed that films with lower water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) and transmission rate significantly enhanced the shelf life of products
Summary
The chemical and physical processes of liquid drying films have a universal history in engineering and protection facilities with appealing requirements and barriers. Postharvest treatments maintain fruit quality and freshness; considerable differences in physiological parameters such as ethylene production in fruits and respirational changes have been noted in previous reports [8,9] Fruit quality parameters such as the fruit texture and water loss are linked through maturity and harvesting times [10]. Coated materials at postharvest storage were applied in the form of film to achieve the desired appearance, resulting in inhibition of losses that satisfy the consumers [13] It helps in delaying fruit softening and upsurges the fruit’s firmness; besides, it delays the physiological disorder and increases the shelf life of many vegetables and fruits [5,14]. The extracted compounds of A. indica (Neem) belong to two groups triterpenoids, and diterpenoids secomeliacins, such as salanin, azadirachtin nonisoprenoids, coumarin tannins, and dihydrochalcone, and aliphatic compounds [16] showed a vast range of biological activities which were safe to maintain the quality of fruit and its preservation process during storage period [17,18]
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