Development of an edible coating for fresh lime (Citrus Aurantifolia Swingle) fruits with Kithul flour (Caryota Urens) and evaluate its shelf- life

Abstract

Perishable nature of fresh fruits and vegetables causes to reduce their shelf-life; hence post-harvest losses are becoming a burning problem. Storing under control conditions may solve the problem, but it can’t be practiced throughout food chain. The application of synthetic coating on fresh products became popular however, there are limitations due to food safety measures. Introducing edible coatings to improve the shel-flife of fresh products has become a new approach. Lime fruit is one of the highly demanded fruits and is used for various food processing applications. This study was carried out to develop a new edible coating to enhance the shelf-life of fresh lime using flour of “kithul” tree (Caryota urens) which has gelatinizing properties. Two concentrations (1% and 3%) of “kithul” flour were used. The coatings were equally applied on fruit surfaces except for the control. All samples were stored in both ambient (29 oC and 70% RH) and controlled (13 oC and 79% RH) storage conditions. Percentages of weight loss, peel colour changers, peel browning, disease, visual quality rating, total soluble solids, pH, and titratable acidity were recorded at four days interval in ambient storage and at seven days interval in temperaturecontrolled storage. According to the results, lime fruits treated with 1% kithul flour coating were recorded the longest shelf life of 12 days under ambient storage and 42 days under controlled storage. Therefore, this study highlights that 1% kithul flour formula can be introduced as an edible coating to prolong the shelf-life of fresh lime.