Improving Shelf Life of Strawberry Through Application of Sodium Alginate and Ascorbic Acid Coatings

Abstract

In the present study, effects of edible coatings using sodium alginate (SA) and sodium alginate in combination with ascorbic acid (AA) on the shelf-life extension of strawberries at 4±1°C was studied. A factorial experiment was performed based on a randomized complete block design with four replications. The treatments included control (distilled water), SA (1%, 2%, 3% w/v), SA in combination with AA (1% w/v) and the storage periods (7 and 14 days). The results showed that lightness (<em>L^*</em>), chroma, firmness, total acidity, vitamin C, phenols, and antioxidant activity decreased during storage, but coating improved them in the sold-stored strwberries. SA2%+AA1% coating was the best treatment in maintaining the fruit quality. Firmness, weight loss, fruit <em>L^*</em>, fruit chroma, sepal <em>L^*</em>, sepal chroma, total phenolics, and polyphenol oxidase activity were decreased by 15%, 1.95%, 16.7%, 2.66%, 10.23%, 16%, 19.47% and 2.5%, respectively for SA2%+AA1% samples at the end of the 14^th day, which was lower than the untreated fruits. The results suggested that postharvest application of SA2%+AA1% has the potential to extend the storage life of strawberry fruits by reducing water loss and maintaining fruit quality.