Postharvest Quality of Tommy Atkins Mangoes Coated With Cassava Starch and Chitosan-Based Coatings

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate postharvest quality of Tommy Atkins mangoes treated with starch cassava and chitosan based coatings. Mango fruits were collected at physiological maturity. After cleaning, weighing and identification, fruits were submitted to the respective treatments and stored for 35 days in the Laboratório de Tecnologia de Alimentos, with weekly evaluations under refrigeration 13±1 ºC and 90±5% RH. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design, in factorial scheme with four treatments: control, cassava starch (CS), chitosan (CH), and cassava starch/chitosan (CS/CH) at a concentration of 2%, and six storage periods (0, 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 days) with four replications. Fruits were evaluated in: appearance, weight loss, external color: luminosity and ΔE, pulp firmness, titratable acidity, soluble solids content, starch, total soluble sugars, reducing sugars and sucrose. Data were submitted to analysis of variance using SISVAR software and compared by Scott-Knott test at 5% of probability. It was observed a reduction in appearance, pulp firmness, titratable acidity, starch and reducing sugars and increase in weight loss, luminosity, ΔE, soluble solids, total soluble sugars and non-reducing sugars during storage. CS/CH coated fruits reported higher notes of appearance, lower weight loss and maintained color. Quality of physicochemical attributes: soluble solids, starch, total soluble sugars, reducing sugars and non-reducing sugars were strongly retarded.