A comprehensive study of chitosan application for extending shelf life of tomato

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the present study was to study the effect of chitosan treatment on extending the shelf life of tomatoes stored at room temperature (27ºC±2) for 21 days. Methodology: Chitosan working formulation were prepared by dissolving chitosan in 1 % glacial acetic acid to get final concentrations with adjusting pH above 5 with 1N NaOH until suspension appears as colloide. Selected tomatoes were dipped in different concentrations of chitosan (0.01, 0.04, 0.08, 0.12, 0.16 and 0.20 % and water (control) for 6 min and kept in well ventilated paper baskets for storage at room temperature (27°C±2) with 55±2 % relative humidity. Results: Chitosan treated tomatoes were evaluated for different parameters related to post harvest losses. Chitosan at 0.16 % effectively prevented microbial decay, physiological loss in weight, maintained the firmness and reduced the respiration rate. Chitosan treatment further decreased the loss of titratable acidity (TA), retained the total soluble solids (TSS), total sugar, ascorbic acid, reducing sugar during storage period. Chitosan effectively preserved lycopene content, inhibit polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity, maintained L*, a*, b* value and organoleptic score during storage from day 1 to day 21 as compared to control tomatoes. Interpretation: The study delves that low concentration of chitosan (0.16%) effectively extend the shelf life of tomato.