Pure polyethylene (PE) is enriched with several additives to make it a smart application material in protected cultivation, as a cover material for either greenhouses or screenhouses. When this material completely or partially absorbs ultraviolet (UV) solar radiation, then it is called UV blocking material. The current work presents a review on the effects of the UV blocking covering materials on crop growth and development. Despite the passage of several years and the evolution of the design technology of plastic greenhouse covers, UV blocking materials have not ceased to be a rather interesting technique for the protection of several vegetable and ornamental species. Much of the research on UV blocking materials focuses on their indisputable effect on reducing the activity of pests and viral-related diseases, rather than on the effects on the crop physiology itself. In the present paper, representative studies dealing with the effect of the UV blocking materials on the agronomic factors of different crops are presented and discussed. The results reveal that UV blocking materials have mainly positive effects on the different plant physiological functions, such as photosynthesis and transpiration rate, and on growth characteristics, while they might have a negative effect on the production and content of secondary compounds, as anthocyanins and total phenolics.
Traditional food packaging materials maintain food quality and safety during storage, but they cause significant environmental pollution. For this reason, there has been an increased demand in designing packaging materials from biodegradable ingredients such as edible proteins and polysaccharides. In the current study, biodegradable coatings from gelatin (Gel) or gelatin–rice starch (Gel-RS) mixtures were applied to fresh-cut Colocasia (Colocasia esculenta) and potato (Solanum tuberosum) samples, and main quality properties such as weight loss, firmness, breaking force, and color were evaluated during storage for seven days at 5 °C. Gel-coated potato samples kept moisture at higher levels compared to untreated samples or Gel-RS-coated samples (weight loss 41.40 ± 3.33%), while no differences in weight loss were observed for all fresh-cut Colocasia samples. Furthermore, the gelatin–rice starch coating increased the breaking force (1181.40 ± 159.3) and hardness (1609.6 ± 76.79) of fresh-cut potato samples during storage conditions. On the other hand, fresh-cut Colocasia coated with gelatin and gelatin/rice starch showed no significant differences in weight loss and texture characteristics. In conclusion, gelatin and gelatin/rice starch coatings provoke preservation of quality characteristics during storage of fresh-cut potatoes but have no preservation effects on fresh-cut Colocasia. This research enriches the knowledge of the effects of biodegradable coatings on fresh-cut starchy tubers.
Biodegradable packaging minimizes negative environmental impacts of synthetic materials and maintains product quality. Fresh cut vegetables and fruits such as zucchini were sensitive to degradation, which could be delayed by edible coatings. Mixtures of gelatin and other biopolymers were commonly used in novel food packaging preserving quality characteristics of foods. In this study, for first time, gelatin and a gelatin mixture with rice starch were applied to zucchini slices during 7 days of storage at 5 °C in order to evaluate weight loss, firmness, breaking force and color. Gelatin coating as a treatment type demonstrated superior ability to preserve the quality of sliced zucchini fruit and contributed to the maintenance of their texture characteristics similar to values of the control group. The addition of rice starch to the gelatin coating also maintained firmness and breaking force, but accelerated the increase of weight loss and decreased lightness compared to control samples. In conclusion, this study on coatings of gelatin and a gelatin–rice starch mixture enriches the knowledge within the food industry on biodegradable coatings, and gives useful information for zucchini slice storage at a low temperature.
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