Extending the Shelf Life of White Peach Fruit with 1-Methylcyclopropene and Aloe arborescens Edible Coating

Abstract

The maintenance of high-quality standards for prolonging the shelf life of fruit and preserving sensory and nutritional quality is a priority for horticultural products. The aim of this work is to test the effectiveness of a single treatment of edible coating based on Aloe arborescens (EC) and a combined treatment of 1-methylcycyclopropene (1-MCP) and edible coating to prolong the shelf life of “Settembrina” white flesh peach fruit. White flesh peach fruit were harvested at the commercial ripening stage, treated with an edible coating (EC) or 1-MCP + EC or 1-MCP, and stored for 28 days at 1 °C. After 7, 14, 21, and 28 days, fruits were removed from cold storage, transferred at 20 °C and then analyzed immediately (cold out) and after 6 days (shelf life) to evaluate the combined effect of cold storage and room temperature. The fruits were tested for carotenoids content, phenolic content, reducing activity (ABTS). The physicochemical traits were measured in terms of the titratable acidity, total soluble content, weight loss, and vitamin C content. Moreover, their sensory profile was analyzed by a semi-trained panel. Fruit treated with EC and 1-MCP + EC kept their marketing values better than control after 14 days of storage and 6 days of simulated shelf life in terms of flesh firmness, total soluble solids and titratable acidity, as well as sensory parameters. After 21 days of storage, all treatments showed a deterioration of all the quality parameters. The single and combined application of Aloe-based coating (with 1-MCP) slowed down the maturation processes of the fruit, limited the weight loss, and preserved its organoleptic characteristics.

Effect of Three Different Aloe vera Gel-Based Edible Coatings on the Quality of Fresh-Cut “Hayward” Kiwifruits

“…Currently, one of the most studied natural matrices of edible coatings is the gel extracted from Aloe vera leaves; its gel is rich in bioactive compounds that have been widely used for their medicinal and therapeutic properties [ 24 ], including anthraquinones; aloin α and β; hemodin; aloe-mannan (polysaccharide); lecithin; almost all essential amino acids (20 out of 22); many vitamins (A, B1, B2, B6, B12, C and E); mineral salts (zinc, magnesium, manganese, selenium, calcium and iron); acetylsalicylic acid and choline amylase. As a coating, it has been extensively used in concentrations between 50% and 100% in products such as nectarines [ 25 ], mangoes [ 26 ], apples [ 27 , 28 ], papayas [ 29 ] and peaches [ 30 ] in order to reduce respiration rates, ethylene production, weight loss and microbial load due to its antibacterial and antifungal activity [ 31 , 32 ]. However, as demonstrated by Farina et al [ 27 , 29 ], Aloe vera gel-based edible coatings without the addition of additives (such as polysaccharides or lipids) show no improvement in fresh-cut fruits compared to other edible coatings added with these natural additives.…”

Postharvest Aloe vera gel coating application maintains the quality of harvested green chilies during cold storage

“…Nevertheless, SSC and ripening index was recorded slightly higher in ALV gel-coated chilies, than control (Figure 7a,c). Previous results showed varying findings, ALV gel coating presents higher SSC, lower acidity, and ripening index in apples, peaches, tomatoes, and litchi fruits throughout the storage periods Farina et al, 2020b;Khan et al, 2019;Khatri et al, 2020;Sortino et al, 2020). Moreover, fruits coated with ALV had reduced SSC, acidity, and ripening index in apricot and table grapes which is considered in contrast to previous results (Nourozi & Sayyari, 2020;Peyro et al, 2017).…”

“…The increased wrinkling of chilies negatively affects their visual quality during storage (Hameed et al, 2010). ALV gel coating showed higher firmness along with restricted softness in different fruits and vegetables (whole or fresh cut) including peaches (Sortino et al, 2020), papaya , strawberries (Pinzon et al, 2020), apples (Khan et al, 2019), oranges (Rasouli et al, 2019), sapodilla (Khaliq et al, 2019a), tomatoes (Chauhan et al, 2015), nectarines (Paladines et al, 2014), and figs (Marpudi et al, 2013) during the entire period of storage. Hence, the ALV gel coating has been found suitable to conserves the texture-related quality of the coated produce during the extended storage period.…”

Effects of Argon-Based and Nitrogen-Based Modified Atmosphere Packaging Technology on the Quality of Pomegranate (Punica granatum L. cv. Wonderful) Arils

“…Sensory evaluation was performed by a team of 30 judges (sixteen men and fourteen women aged between 20 and 60 years) with a good background and knowledge of the details of this kind of food evaluation [ 45 ], following the guidelines of UNI 10957:2003 legislation [ 46 ]. During the preliminary meetings, 20 qualitative descriptors were chosen for the definition of the sensory profile, nine descriptors for arils and 11 descriptors for juice, generated based on citation frequency (>60%) and listed below:…”

“…The judges evaluated the intensity of each descriptor by assigning a score between 1 and 9, where each score represented a different level of intensity of the quality descriptors. The panelists assigned scores to the descriptors according to the nine-point intensity scale: 1—no sensation, 2—barely recognizable, 3—very weak, 4—weak, 5—light, 6—moderate, 7—intense, 8—very intense, and 9—extremely intense [ 45 , 47 ].…”