Improvement of Postharvest Quality and Storability of Jamun Fruit (Syzygium cumini L. var. Paras) by Zein Coating Enriched with Antioxidants

Abstract

Jamun (Syzygium cumin L.) is a minor indigenous underexploited and perishable fruit of India. Keeping its perishability in mind, the present study is aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of zein-based coatings enriched with cystein (0.2 %), ascorbic acid (0.2 %), and jamun leaves extract (JLE) (0.2 %) and to evaluate their interactive effects on shelf life and quality of fresh jamun fruits during storage at 10 ± 2°C for 2 weeks. The results of the present study demonstrated that during storage, uncoated fruit had rapid weight loss, higher decay incidence, high accumulation of sugars, and accelerated softening and ripening than that of all the coated fruit. The content of antioxidants was found to be improved in zeincoated fruits enriched with ascorbic acid (0.2 %) and JLE (0.2 %) and, therefore, exhibited higher antioxidant activity. Moreover, the delayed activity of polygalacturonase (PG) and pectate lyase (PL) was noticed in fruits coated with zein + cystein and zein + JLE and maintained firmness and textural quality of fruit. Consequently, the shelf life of jamun fruit treated with the presently tested coating materials could be extended up to 20 days, while that of control fruit was only 10 days.

Textural Properties and Enzyme Activity of Mango (Mangifera indica L.) Fruit Coated with Chitosan during Storage

“…However, mango fruit treated with chitosan reduced the activities of PG and PME enzyme in this study. These results are in line with previous reports, where edible coatings decreased the activities of pectolytic enzyme in pear and jamun during storage (Zhou et al, 2011;Baraiya et al, 2015). Chitosan coating positively inhibited the activities of PG and PME enzyme.…”

“…PME disintegrates the methyl and the carboxylic groups of the pectin and breaks the ester bonds, while PG acts on pectic acid chains and break the glycoside bonds between the galacturonic acid subunits (Brummell and Harpster, 2001). It has been observed that the cell wall degrading enzyme increased during ripening in mango (Razzaq et al, 2014), papaya (Madani et al, 2014) and Jamun (Baraiya et al, 2015). However, mango fruit treated with chitosan reduced the activities of PG and PME enzyme in this study.…”

The Impact of Plant-Based Coatings in “ROCHA” Pear Preservation during Cold Storage: A Metabolomic Approach

“…In recent years, the use of edible coatings, in particular, polysaccharide-based coatings (starch, chitosan, xanthan gum, pectin, cellulose derivatives, and alginate), has shown great potential to delay fruit quality deterioration during cold storage due to their potential to reduce respiration rates and create a gas barrier on the fruit surface [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. In addition, coatings can be supplemented with food compatible (and ideally natural) antioxidants to delay and reduce oxidative-related disorders [ 14 ].…”

Effect of Surface Coatings on the Shelf life and Quality of Cassava

“…The treated root samples varied in their delay in phenol reduction and this may have been due to the different efficiencies of the coating solutions to delay PPD and oxygen depletion which caused enzyme inactivation (Salcedo & Siritunga, 2011). There was also notable delay in the browning of the coated cassava roots which may have been due to the inhibition of oxygen penetration by the coating solution as was reported by Baraiya et al (2015).…”

“…Coatings are a type of films directly applied on the food product surface. The application of edible coatings can improve the physical features of food products, reduce clustering of food particles and improve visual features on the product surface (Baraiya, Rao,& Thakkar, 2015). Many factors determine the success of edible coatings in improving quality and extending shelf-life of foods.…”