Preserving Strawberry (Fragaria Ananasa) Using Alginate and Soy Based Edible Coatings

摘要

Instant research project was an attempt to address the postharvest losses in strawberry using the concept of biodegradable edible coatings. Purposely, alginate and soy based coatings were developed at various levels (2, 2.5 and 3%) and assessed for the role in controlling the moisture loss and total solids in the coated fruit. From results, it was deduced that moisture loss was lowered to 4.86% in T3 (Soy 3%) as compared to 13.45% in T0 (Control) for strawberry kept at controlled climate chamber. Likewise, 2.5 and 3% combinations of soy and alginate based coatings were found efficient in maintaining overall solids content of the coated strawberry.Based on the findings, edible coatings are suggested as an innovative, cost effective and environmental friendly preservation technique that holds potential to be used on fresh perishable commodities.