Postharvest Quality Preservation of ‘Barhi’ Dates by Using Various Starch-Based Edible Coatings Supplemented with Cinnamon Oil as a Carrier During Cold Storage
摘要
Date palm fruits have great commercial value as well as spiritual and cultural significance in different countries due to their high nutritional value and various health benefits. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of edible coatings made from rice, corn, and cassava starch at 2 or 4% concentrations supplemented with 1% natural cinnamon oil as a carrier in preserving the quality and extending the storage life of ‘Barhi’ date fruits under cold storage at 5 °C with 85–90% relative humidity for a period of 20 days compared with the untreated fruits (treated with water only) as an average of two successive seasons 2022 and 2023. The study assessed various fruit quality attributes including weight loss (%), rutab (%), firmness (Ib/inch2), total soluble solids (TSS %), total acidity (TA %), ascorbic acid content (vitamin C, mg\100 g F.W.), total carotenoids content (TCC, mg\g F.W.), total flavonoid content (TFC, mg GAE/100 g) and pectinase enzyme activity (PE, U/mL) as an average of two consecutive seasons. Coated fruits with rice starch at 2 or 4% supplemented with 1% natural cinnamon oil as a carrier resulted in the least fruit weight loss, the highest fruit weight, highest fruit firmness and lowest pectinase activity. Cassava starch at 2 or 4% gave the lowest rutab (%), the lowest TA (%), the highest TSS (%) and the highest ascorbic acid content. Meanwhile, corn, starch at 2 or 4% showed the highest TCC and TFC after 20 days of cold storage at 5 °C. In conclusion, the application of various starch-based edible coatings significantly enhanced the preservation of ‘Barhi’ date fruit quality during cold storage.