Combining Cellulose and ZnO for Extend the Shelf Life of Fruit

Abstract

The increasing level of paper consumption has the effect of cutting down trees for paper production which has disrupted natural sustainability. Paper production is not proportional to the amount of paper waste that is left to accumulate without recycle. Paper making material is 90% cellulose and the rest is material added as a support. This research try to recycle paper that processed chemically and cellulose isolating is by modifying it into nanoparticles with the addition of ZnO (nanosized) to produce nanocoating. Nanocoating production produces a nanocomposite coating solution with 0% and 1% cellulose + ZnO (nanosized) concentration (w/w cellulose). The result of this research can applied on salak fruit with parameters of weight loss and total acid. The parameters show changes in weight loss and total acid that will decrease every day with the coating treatment using cellulose, but the addition of ZnO (nanosized) can show the best results. The finding of this study could be used as extending the shelf life of fruit.