Application of chitosan preliminary treatment to preserve quality of strawberries.

Abstract

Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa ) is a highly appreciated worldwide not only for its unique taste and distinct flavor, but also for its health benefits. Strawberries contain usual nutrients, such as minerals and vitamins, and a diverse range of anthocyanins, flavonoids and phenolic acids with biological properties However, strawberries have a short postharvest life with rapid spoilage, reflecting high susceptibility to mechanical injury, excessive texture softening, physiological disorders and infection through several pathogens during transport, storage and processing. Several studies have demonstrated that the postharvest life of strawberries can be extended by different preservation techniques, such as refrigeration, synthetic chemical fungicides, modified atmosphere packaging. In the last several years, edible coatings have been widely studied for the preservation of fruits and vegetables. Edible coating with semipermeable films might extend the postharvest life of strawberry through a reduction of moisture, gas exchange, respiration and oxidative reaction rates