Application and toxicity studies of arabinoxylan and ß-D-glucan stearic acid ester composite coatings in extending postharvest storage of peach.

ABSTRACT

Peaches are good source of nutrients and known for their taste and aroma. The highly perishable nature of the peaches tends to decay rapidly during transportation and storage is a serious constraint for efficient transportation and storage. Therefore, the effect of arabinoxylan (AX) and ß-D-glucan stearic acid ester (SABG) composite coating material was examined for the postharvest storage quality of peach under storage at 22 ± 2 °C with 85% relative humidity (RH). Both, AX-SABG and shellac (1-2%) coatings significantly reduced the change in the quality attributes like weight loss (1.2-1.4 fold), respiration rate (1.1-1.2 fold), ripening index (1.3-1.5 fold) and firmness (1.3-1.5 fold) during 6 days storage as compared to the uncoated peaches. In addition, AX-SABG (1-2%) coating was more effective in retaining aroma volatiles and reducing disease incidence compared to shellac. Further, acute and chronic toxicological studies have shown no tissue related toxicity and mortality in mice. Our results suggest that AX-SABG as an edible coating has the potential to preserve the fruit quality during 6 days storage at 22 ± 2 °C and extend the postharvest shelf life of peach during storage.