Food Science and Nutrition Technology

Abstract

Edible coatings (ECs) are a good strategy to extend shelf-life of fruit products. For this purpose, the use of polysaccharides such as chitosan (CH) are gaining popularity. In this study, chitosan coatings were evaluated in fresh-cut strawberries microbial and sensory quality through refrigerated storage at 5°C for 7 days. Also, two natural antimicrobial agents, i.e. vanillin (V) and geraniol (G), were incorporated in the coatings and evaluated at two different concentrations. In general, chitosan coatings were effective in the initial reduction of fresh-cut strawberries native microflora, even without the incorporated biopreservatives. However, through storage, neither of the coatings tested was able to control the growth of mesophilic bacteria. Among the tested sensory parameters, texture was the most important characteristic, which governed the shelf-life of the product.