Combination of alginate coating and repetitive pulsed light for shelf life extension of fresh-cut cantaloupe (Cucumis melo L. reticulatus cv. Glamour)

Abstract

This study was to optimise the alginate coating formulations for shelf life extension of fresh‐cut cantaloupe treated with repetitive pulsed light (RPL). The optimised coating formulation was 1.86% alginate and 1.47% glycerol. The fresh‐cut cantaloupe was coated with the optimised coating followed by RPL using 0.9 J cm−2 at every 48 hr for the first 26 days during 40 days of storage at 4 ± 1 °C. The combined treatment prolonged the shelf life of fresh‐cut cantaloupe in term of microbiological quality with extended 28 and 24 days compared to the untreated and alginate‐coated samples, respectively. The coating reduced fluid loss of cantaloupe while maintaining its physicochemical quality, that is, headspace gas composition, firmness, colour, pH, titratable acidity and nutritional quality such as total phenolic, ascorbic acid and total carotenoid contents. Overall, the combined treatment was more effective to preserve fresh‐cut cantaloupes compared to RPL or coating alone. Practical applications Fresh‐cut cantaloupes are receiving great interest due to the benefits of convenience and fresh‐like quality provided. However, fresh‐cut cantaloupes are susceptible to microbial contamination and deterioration as a result of tissue injury caused by fresh‐cut processes. Pulsed light treatment is a nonthermal technique that can preserve fresh‐cut fruits by inactivating microorganisms. However, PL treatment alone is insufficient to preserve quality of fresh‐cut fruits. Hurdle technology by combining repetitive PL treatment and edible coating is an efficient approach for extending shelf life of fresh‐cut fruits in terms of microbiological and physicochemical properties. The results from this study contribute to the knowledge regarding the feasibility of combining RPL treatment and edible coating to further extend shelf life of fresh‐cut cantaloupes compared to the individual treatment. The knowledge can be utilised by food producers for commercialising fresh‐cut products.

Effect of Linseed (Linum usitatissimum) Mucilage and Chitosan Edible Coatings on Quality and Shelf-Life of Fresh-Cut Cantaloupe (Cucumis melo)

“…However, the development of fresh-cut products from fruits such as pineapple, papaya, watermelon, mango, and cantaloupe, among others, has been limited because these foods are highly perishable compared to intact fruit. Also, processing operations, such as disinfection, washing, drying, cutting, and packaging, can cause alterations in physical integrity (e.g., mechanical damage of fruit tissue) and product safety (e.g., microbial cross-contamination), leading to a series of changes related to microbial susceptibility and physicochemical and sensory stability, which decrease overall quality and shelf life [4][5][6].…”

Self-Healing, Stretchable, Biocompatible, and Conductive Alginate Hydrogels through Dynamic Covalent Bonds for Implantable Electronics

“…In an aspect of storage for further applications, the shelf life of the hydrogels might be longer than at least one month because the hydrogels contain alginate backbone which is a major polymeric network and OEGCG as a crosslinker to interconnect their network, with strong anti-oxidant and anti-microbial effects. In general, the unmodified alginate hydrogels are totally degraded in vivo within one month [ 24 , 36 , 37 , 38 ]. In our system, the conjugation of boronic acid onto alginate might enhance the shelf-life of unmodified alginate due to the increase in relative molecular weight and inter-crosslinking density, and OEGCG can inhibit the growth of micro-organism [ 39 , 40 , 41 ].…”

Edible Coating and Pulsed Light to Increase the Shelf Life of Food Products

“…In the data of Table 3, all the different strategies discussed in Fig. 2 were investigated, with the prevalence of coating application before PL treatment [8, 262-264, 266, 267] and of coating application followed by packaging and PL treatment on the packaged product [265,268,269],…”