Chitosan-based fruit coating as postharvest treatments on two pineapples (Ananas comosus L. Merr) clones

Abstract

Production of fresh pineapple fruit is dominated by the MD2 clone, while the GP3 clone is used as canned fruit. To be promoted as fresh fruit, the GP3 has some defects, namely a less sweet taste and sensitivity to internal browning (IB) disorders. The clones need fruit coatings, and the two might get responded differently. This study aimed to study the effects of chitosan-based fruit coating mixed with palm stearin and Aloe vera gel on the fruit qualities of the two clones, as well as to seek the potential of the GP3 clone as a fresh fruit. The study used 2 x 4 factorials. The first factor was two clones (GP3 and MD2). The second factor was fruit coatings (control, chitosan, palm stearin + chitosan, and Aloe vera gel + chitosan). The fruits were stored at 7 °C. The results showed that the GP3 started to show the incidence of IB disorders on the 21st day, 2 weeks earlier than the MD2. The MD2 showed a °Brix of 16.82% and vitamin C of 391.45 mg/L, which were significantly higher than the GP3. Meanwhile, the GP3 showed 0.60% acidity, which was significantly higher than the MD2. These indicated that the GP3 should not be used for fresh fruit consumption, mainly because of its sensitivity to IB and lower sweetness compared to the MD2 clone. The chitosan treatment, which was added with Aloe vera or palm stearin, showed a higher vitamin C value than the other treatments.