Abstract
Fresh fig is one of the most perishable climacteric fruits. An alternative to maintain quality and extend the shelf life of this fruit could be the use of edible coatings. Therefore, in the present study, the effect of three different coatings; 0.5% chitosan, 200 mg L− thymol and their combined use on postharvest quality of fig fruits cv. ‘Siah’ were investigated. Dripping fruits in distilled water was used as a control. Changes in weight loss, respiration rate, fruit firmness, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), anthocyanin, sensory characteristics, fungal decay incidence and color values (L*, C* and ΔE*) of fruits were evaluated during 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 days storage at 6 °C. The results showed that the combination of chitosan and thymol presented more effective preservative effect than sole chitosan or thymol coating. The coated fruits with 0.5% chitosan + 200 mg L− thymol showed significantly lower weight loss, respiration rate, TSS, TSS/TA, and fungal decay incidence than other treatments. Furthermore, the coated fruits with 0.5% chitosan + 200 mg L− thymol exhibited significantly higher firmness, TA, anthocyanin, and sensory characteristics than other treatments. In addition, fruits coated with 0.5% chitosan + 200 mg L− thymol showed the highest L* and C* values after 20 days storage at 6 °C. Therefore, the coating composed of chitosan and thymol can provide an efficient alternative for quality maintenance and shelf life extension of fresh fig fruits.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
FAOSTAT, FAO statistical database, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. retrived from https://faostat.fao.org/home/ (2016)
A. Solomon, S. Golubowicz, Z. Yablowicz, S. Grossman, M. Bergma, H.E. Gottlieb, A. Altman, Z. Kerem, M.A. Flaishman, Antioxidant activities and anthocyanin content of fresh fruits of common fig (Ficus carica L.). J. Agric. Food Chem. 54, 7717–7723 (2006)
E. Tsantili, Changes during development of ‘Tsapela’ fig fruits. Sci. Hortic. 44, 227–234 (1990)
F. Delieghere, A. Vermeulen, J. Debevere, Chitosan: antimicrobial activity, interactions with food components and applicability as a coating on fruit and vegetables. Food Microbiol. 21, 703–714 (2004)
G.L. Dotto, L.A.A. Pinto, M.A. Hachicha, S. Knani, New physicochemical interpretations for the adsorption of food dyes on chitosan films using statistical physics treatment. Food Chem. 171, 1–7 (2015)
D. Pezo, J. Salafranca, C. Nerin, Design of a method for generation of gas-phase hydroxyl radicals, and use of HPLC with fluorescence detection to assess the antioxidant capacity of natural essential oils. Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 385(7), 1241–1246 (2006)
T. Jiang, L. Feng, J. Li, Changes in microbial and postharvest quality of shiitake mushroom (Lentinus edodes) treated with chitosan-glucose complex coating under cold storage. Food Chem. 131, 780–786 (2012)
T.T. Li, J.R. Li, W.Z. Hu, X.G. Zhang, X.P. Li, J. Zhao, Shelf-life extension of crucian carp (Carassius auratus) using natural preservatives during chilled storage. Food Chem. 135, 140–145 (2013)
X.J. Qiu, S.J. Chen, G.M. Liu, Q.M. Yang, Quality enhancement in the Japanese sea bass (Lateolabrax japonicas) fillets stored at 4 degrees C by chitosan coating incorporated with citric acid or licorice extract. Food Chem. 162, 156–160 (2014)
M.C. Reyes-Avalos, C.N. Aguilar-González, A. Femenia, R. Minjares-Fuentes, J.R. Esparza-Rivera, J.C. Contreras-Esquivel, J.A. Meza-Velázquez, Improvement of the quality and the shelf life of figs (Ficus carica) using an alginate–chitosan edible film. Food Bioprocess Technol. 9, 2114–2124 (2016)
H. Meighani, M. Ghasemnezhad, D. Bakhshi, Effect of different coatings on post-harvest quality and bioactive compounds of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) fruits. J. Food Sci. Technol. 52(7), 4507–4514 (2015)
D. Kim, S.W. Jeong, C.Y. Lee, Antioxidant capacity of phenolic phytochemicals from various cultivars of plums. Food Chem. 81, 321–326 (2003)
M. Taduri, N.N. Reddy, J. Lakshmi, V. joshi, Effect of pre harvest treatments on shelf life and quality of mango CV. Amrapali. Pharma Innov. J. 6(7), 54–59 (2017)
B.F. Lin, Y.M. Du, X.Q. Liang, X.Y. Wang, X.H. Wang, J.H. Yang, Effect of chitosan coating on respiratory behavior and quality of stored litchi under ambient temperature. J. Food Eng. 102, 94–99 (2011)
A. Ali, M.T.M. Muhammad, K. Sijam, Y. Siddiqui, Effect of chitosan coatings on the physicochemical characteristics of Eksotika II papaya (Carica papaya L.) fruit during cold storage. Food Chem. 124, 620–626 (2011)
X. Sun, J. Narciso, Z. Wang, C. Ference, J. Bai, K. Zhou, Effects of chitosan-essential oil coatings on safety and quality of fresh blueberries. J. Food Sci. 79, 955–960 (2014)
I.C. Dantas Guerra, P.D.L. de Oliveira, M.M. Fernandes Santos, A.S.S. Carneiro Lúcio, J.F. Tavares, J.M. Barbosa-Filho, M.S. Madruga, E.L. de Souza, The effects of composite coatings containing chitosan and Mentha (piperita L. or x villosa Huds) essential oil on postharvest mold occurrence and quality of table grape cv. Isabella. Innov. Food Sci. Emerg. Technol. 34, 112–121 (2016)
G. Khaliq, M.T. Muda Mohamed, A. Ali, P. Ding, H.M. Ghazali, Effect of gum arabic coating combined with calcium chloride on physico-chemical and qualitative properties of mango (Mangifera indica L.) fruit during low temperature storage. Sci. Hortic. 190, 187–194 (2015)
Z. Ju, Y. Duan, Z. Ju, Plant oil emulsion modifies internal atmosphere, delays fruit ripening, and inhibits internal browning in Chinese pears. Postharvest Biol. Technol. 20(3), 243–250 (2000)
M.J. Ahmed, Z. Singh, A.S. Khan, Postharvest aloe vera gel-coating modulates fruit ripening and quality of ‘Arctic Snow’ nectarine kept in ambient and cold storage. Int. J. Food Sci. Technol. 44(5), 1024–1033 (2009)
K. Barman, R. Asrey, R.K. Pal, Putrescine and carnauba wax pretreatments alleviate chilling injury, enhance shelf life and preserve pomegranate fruit quality during cold storage. Sci. Hortic. 130, 795–800 (2011)
F. Varasteh, K. Arzani, B. Barzegar, Z. Zamani, Changes in anthocyanins in arils of chitosan-coated pomegranate (Punica granatum L. cv. Rabbab-e-Neyriz) fruit during cold storage. Food Chem. 130, 267–272 (2012)
R. Ravanfar, M. Niakousari, N. Maftoonazad, Postharvest sour cherry quality and safety maintenance by exposure to Hot- water or treatment with fresh aloe vera gel. J. Food Sci. Technol. 51(10), 2872–2876 (2014)
M. Sayyari, M. Babalar, S. Kalantari, D. Martínez-Romero, F. Guillén, M. Serrano, D. Valero, Vapour treatments with methyl salicylate or methyl jasmonate alleviated chilling injury and enhanced antioxidant potential during postharvest storage of pomegranates. Food Chem. 124, 964–970 (2011)
Y. Jiang, J. Li, W. Jiang, Effects of chitosan coating on shelf life of cold-stored litchi fruit at ambient temperature. LWT Food Sci. Technol. 38, 757–761 (2005)
A. Sabır, F.K. Sabır, Z. Kara, Effects of modified atmosphere packing and honey dip treatments on quality maintenance of minimally processed grape cv. Razaki (V. vinifera L.) during cold storage. J. Food Sci. Technol. 48(3), 312–318 (2011)
B. Goncalves, A.P. Silva, J. Moutinho-Pereira, E. Bacelar, E. Rosa, A.S. Meyer, Effect of ripeness and postharvest storage on the evolution of colour and anthocyanins in cherries (Prunus avium L.). Food Chem. 103, 976–984 (2007)
A. El Ghaouth, R. Ponnampalam, M. Boulet, Chitosan coating effect on storability and quality of fresh strawberries. J. Food Sci. 56, 1618–1621 (1991)
H. Dong, L. Cheng, J. Tan, K. Zheng, Y. Jiang, Effects of chitosan coating on quality and shelf life of peeled litchi fruit. J. Food Eng. 64, 355–358 (2004)
M.D. Jameel Jhalegar, R.R. Sharma, D. Singh, In vitro and in vivo activity of essential oils against major postharvest pathogens of Kinnow (Citrus nobilis × C. deliciosa) mandarin. J. Food Sci. Technol. 52(4), 2229–2237 (2015)
D. Jianglian, Z. Shaoying, Application of chitosan based coating in fruit and vegetable preservation : a review. J. Food Process. Technol. 4(5), 227 (2013)
A. Perdones, L. Sa´nchez-Gonza´lez, A. Chiralt, M. Vargas, Effect of chitosan–lemon essential oil coatings on storage-keeping quality of strawberry. Postharvest Biol. Technol. 70, 32–41 (2012)
A. Mohammadi, M. Hashemi, S.M. Hosseini, Nanoencapsulation of Zataria multiflora essential oil preparation and characterization with enhanced antifungal activity for controlling Botrytis cinerea, the causal agent of gray mould disease. Innov. Food Sci. Emerg. Technol. 28, 73–80 (2015)
Y. Hu, Y.M. Du, H. Liu, Antimicrobial activity of chitosan in combination with thymol. J-Wuhan Univ. Nat. Sci. Ed. 49(2), 261–265 (2003)
L. Wang, F. Liu, Y. Jiang, Z. Chai, P. Li, Y. Cheng, X. Leng, Synergistic antimicrobial activities of natural essential oils with chitosan films. J. Agric. Food Chem. 59(23), 12411–12419 (2011)
M. Mikulic-Petkovsek, J. Rescic, V. Schmitzer, F. Stampar, A. Slatnar, D. Koron, R. Veberic, Changes in fruit quality parameters of four ribes species during ripening. Food Chem. 173, 363–374 (2015)
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Arak University under Grant number 96/5861. We would like to acknowledge the research team of Arak University.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Saki, M., ValizadehKaji, B., Abbasifar, A. et al. Effect of chitosan coating combined with thymol essential oil on physicochemical and qualitative properties of fresh fig (Ficus carica L.) fruit during cold storage. Food Measure 13, 1147–1158 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11694-019-00030-w
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11694-019-00030-w