Application of gum arabic and methyl cellulose coatings enriched with thyme oil to maintain quality and extend shelf life of “Acco” pomegranate arils

Abstract
The effects of gum arabic (GA; 1.5% w/v) and methyl cellulose (MC; 1% w/v) enriched with thyme oil (TO; 0.25 and 0.5% v/v) on the quality of “Acco” pomegranate arils were studied. Coating treatments, namely, MC, MC + TO0.5%, MC + TO0.25%, GA, GA + TO0.5% and GA + TO0.25% were applied on arils by dipping, and evaluations were made on physicochemical and microbiological quality, phytochemicals and antioxidant capacity of arils stored (5 ± 1 ◦C, 95 ± 2% RH) for 16 days. Dipping arils in GA or MC, both containing TO (0.5% v/v) significantly (p < 0.0001) reduced weight loss and enhanced antioxidant activity (FRAP) (p = 0.0014). However, dipping arils in GA combined with TO (0.25% v/v) had the highest influence on reducing aril respiration rate compared with other treatments. Overall, results showed that application of coatings (GA + TO0.5% and GA + TO0.25%) reduced total yeast and mould and total plate counts and maintained quality up to 8 days of storage. These findings suggest that either GA + TO0.5% or GA + TO0.25% coatings have the capability to extend storage life of “Acco” pomegranate arils.
Description
CITATION: Kawhena, T. G. et al. 2020. Application of gum arabic and methyl cellulose coatings enriched with thyme oil to maintain quality and extend shelf life of “Acco” pomegranate arils. Plants, 9(12):1690, doi:10.3390/plants9121690.
The original publication is available at https://www.mdpi.com
Keywords
Pomegranate -- Quality, Gum arabic, Pomegranate -- Postharvest technology, Antioxidants, Pomegranate -- Effect of freezes on, Edible coatings
Citation
Kawhena, T. G. et al. 2020. Application of gum arabic and methyl cellulose coatings enriched with thyme oil to maintain quality and extend shelf life of “Acco” pomegranate arils. Plants, 9(12):1690, doi:10.3390/plants9121690.