Food Sci. Technol. Res.

, 19 (2), 139 155, 2013

Review
Chitosan as a Novel Edible Coating for Fresh Fruits
Rayees Ahmad Shiekh1, Maqsood Ahmad Malik2*, Shaeel Ahmed Al-Thabaiti2 and Muneer Ahmad Shiekh3
1

Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016, India

Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80203, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia

Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) Old Air Field, P.O. Rengreth, Srinagar-190007,
Jammu and Kashmir, India

Received August 27, 2012; Accepted December 19, 2012

The main benefits of edible active coatings are to maintain the quality and extend shelf-life of fresh
fruits and prevent microbial spoilage. Chitosan have a wide range of potential application in different
fields of chemical sciences, biological systems, food sciences, pharmaceutical and medical industries. Chitosan has been proven one of the best edible and biologically safe preservative coatings for different types
of foods because of its film-forming properties, antimicrobial actions, lack of toxicity, biodegradability
and biochemical properties. It has been proven that the chitosan can control numerous pre and postharvest disease of fresh fruits. Chitosan edible coatings extend the shelf life of the fruits and vegetables by
minimizing the rate of respiration and reducing the water loss. Chitosan coating offers a defensive barrier
against bacterial contamination and loss of moisture from the surface of food products, thus extending
their shelf life. With limited increase in the concentration of chitosan coating, the beneficial effect of chitosan on postharvest life and quality of the food is enhanced. The present review delineates the preparation,
properties and potential application of chitosan coatings for enhancing the postharvest life and quality of
different types of fruits.
Keywords: chitosan, edible coating, fruits, postharvest life, shelf life

Introduction
Consumers usually judge the quality of fresh fruits on
the basis of appearance and freshness at the time of purchase
(Kader, 2002). However, minimal processing operations alter the integrity of fruits bringing about negative effects on
product quality such as browning, off-flavour development
and texture breakdown. In addition, the presence of microorganisms on the fruit surface may compromise the safety
of fresh-cut fruit. The search for methods that aim to retard
these negative effects is of great interest to all the stakeholders involved in the production and distribution of fresh fruits.
Traditionally, edible coatings have been used in the fresh
fruist industry as a strategy to reduce the deleterious effects
that minimal processing imposes on intact vegetable tissues. Edible coatings may contribute to extend the shelf-life
of fresh-cut fruits by reducing moisture and solute migra*To whom correspondence should be addressed.
E-mail: maqsoodchem@gmail.com

tion, gas exchange, respiration and oxidative reaction rates,

as well as by reducing or even suppressing physiological
disorders (Baldwin et al., 1996; Park, 1999). Edible coatings have a high potential to carry active ingredients such
as antibrowning agents, colorants, flavours, nutrients, spices
and antimicrobial compounds that can extend product shelf
life and reduce the risk of pathogen growth on food surfaces
(Pranoto et al., 2005). However, specific studies on fresh
fruits are rather limited and their industrial implementation
is still incipient. In this sense, the main goal of this article is
to review and update the information available on the use of
edible coatings as carriers of food ingredients (antimicrobials,
texture enhancers and nutraceuticals) to improve the safety,
quality and functionality of fresh fruits. Much research is still
to be done in order to develop safe fresh fruits products with
high sensory quality and nutritional value. The development
of new processing techniques for preserving freshcut fruit
needs to overcome some of the hurdles to successful commercial distribution of such products. Interest in the possible

R.A. Shiekh et al.

140

use of natural compounds to prevent microbial growth has

notably increased in response to consumer awareness of the
use of chemically synthesized additives in foods.
Browning is also a major concern related to the extension of shelf-life of fresh fruits, and strongly affects the
consumers purchase decision. Traditionally, sulfites have
been used for browning prevention. However, their use on
fresh fruits and vegetables was banned in 1986 by the FDA
owing to their potential hazards to health (Buta et al., 1999).
Thus, various alternative approaches have being studied to
minimize visual deterioration in fresh fruits. Reducing agents
such as citric acid, ascorbic acid, isoascorbic acid and sodium erythorbate (Buta et al., 1999; Sapers and Miller 1998;
Dong, 2000; Soliva-Fortuny et al., 2002) thiolcontaining
amino acids such as N-acetylcysteine and glutathione (OmsOliu et al., 2006; Rojas-Gra et al., 2006), oxalic acid (Son,
2001) and 4-hexylresorcinol (Luo and Barbosa-Cnovas
1997) have been investigated to prevent browning. Calcium
treatments can maintain or improve tissue firmness and
crispness of fresh fruits. To improve quality of fresh-cut fruit
surface treatments such as dipping fruit pieces into aqueous solutions containing antimicrobial agents, antioxidants,
calcium salts or functional ingredients such as minerals and
vitamins are widely practiced. However, the effectiveness of
these compounds could be very much improved with their
incorporation into edible coatings at a low concentration to
prevent detrimental effect of long exposure to food components. The application of edible coatings to deliver active
substances is one of the recent major advances made in order
to increase the shelf-life of fresh fruits production.
Chitin and chitosan are biopolymers having immense
structural possibilities for chemical and mechanical modifications to generate novel properties, functions and applications. Chitosan refers to the whole family of acidic soluble
linear heteropolysaccharides. Chitosan is a natural nontoxic
biopolymer derived by deacetylation of chitin, a major component of the shells of crustaceans such as crab, shrimp, and
crawfish, it also occurs naturally in some fungi but its occurrence is much less widespread than that of chitin. A sharp
nomenclature border has not been defined between chitin and
chitosan based on the degree of N-deacetylation (Muzzarelli,
1973; Peniche et al., 2003). Chitosan is of great interest because of their all-round properties and applications in almost
every field with great potential in diverse industries (Figure
1) (Aranaz et al., 2009, Rinaudo, 2006, Wani et al. 2010).
Among these diverse applications, chitosan has a great role
in food industry and agriculture (Chien et al., 2007a; No et
al., 2007). Much attention has been paid currently to chitosan as a potential polysaccharide resource (Nishimura et
al., 1991). Several efforts have been carried out to prepare

functional derivatives of chitosan by chemical modifications

(Toffey et al., 1996; Kim et al., 1994; Crini et al., 1997) only
a few examples attained solubility in general organic solvents (Kurita, 2001; Kurita et al., 1982).
According to the chemical structure of chitosan, it is
composed of 2-amino-2-deoxy-D-glucose (glucosamine)
monomers, which are linked -1-4-glycosidically (Figure
2(a)), whereas chitin is composed of N-acetyl-glucosamine
monomers (Figure 2(b)) (Rabea et al., 2003). Chitin is insoluble in most organic solvents while as chitosan is readily
soluble in dilute acidic solutions below pH 6.0. The presence
of the amino groups indicates that pH substantially alters the
charged state and properties of chitosan (Yi et al., 2005). As
the pH increases above 6, amines of chitosan become deprotonated and the polymer loses its charge and becomes insoluble. The soluble-insoluble transition occurs at its pKa value
around pH between 6 and 6.5. As the pKa value is highly
dependent on the degree of N-acetylation, the solubility of
chitosan is dependent on the degree of deacetylation and the
method of deacetylation used (Cho et al., 2000). The degree
of ionization depends on the pH and the pK of the acid with
respect to studies based on the role of the protonation of
chitosan in the presence of acetic acid and hydrochloric acid

Fig. 1. Chitosan utilization in various fields of application.

HO

O H
HO
H
(a)

(b)

H
O

HO

NH
C

O
H

H
H
H
O

HO
NH
C

CH3

H NH
H

OH

HO

O
H

CH3

O
H

O
HO

H
HO
H

H
O

CH3

HO

H
H
H NH2
H
O
HO
HO

OH

NH H
CH3

H
HO
H

OH

NH 2H

OH

Fig. 2. Chemical structure of 100% acetylated chitin (a)

and chitosan (b).

Chitosan Edible Coating

141

(Rinaudo et al., 1999a; Rinaudo et al., 1999b). However, no

comprehensive review has yet been published that covers the
entire range of applications of chitosan particularly in fruit
preservation.
Preparation of Chitosan
Extraction and Purification of Chitin
Chitin is present within numerous taxonomic groups.
However, commercial chitins are usually isolated from marine crustaceans, mainly because a large amount of waste is
available as a by-product of their food processing. It occurs
in the skeletal material of crustaceans such as crabs, lobsters,
shrimps, prawns and cray fish (Figure 3).
While much research has been done with chitosan extraction from crab shell, limited information is available on the
extraction possibilities with crawfish shell waste. Crustacean
shells consist of 30 40% proteins, 30 50% calcium carbonate and 20 30% chitin and contain pigments of a lipidic
nature such as carotenoids (astaxanthin, astathin, canthaxanthin, lutein and -carotene). These proportions vary with
species and with season. Chitin is extracted by acid treatment
to dissolve the calcium carbonate followed by alkaline extraction to dissolve the proteins and by a depigmentation step
to obtain a colourless product mainly by removing the astaxantine (Acosta et al., 1993). The materials which are used for
the preparation of chitosan are the exoskeletons of various
crustacea particularly crab and shrimp. The Chitin extraction
is closely associated with proteins, inorganic material like
CaCO3 , pigments of a lipidic nature. Different well known
procedures have been implemented to remove these impurities.
Demineralization, deproteinization, decolorization, and
deacetylation are the four traditional steps for the isolation
of chitin (Figure 4). Demineralization and deproteinization
are the two specific steps for the isolation of chitin, which
involves the dissolution of calcium carbonate with 1.0 N
HCl and the removal of proteins with 3% NaOH, respectively. The demineralization process is mostly carried out by
treatment with HCl and deproteinization by treatment with
NaOH. In most of the cases, deproteinization has been carried out prior to demineralization. Various researchers have
examined and used enzymes for protein removal. The use of
enzymes such as pepsin and trypsin has been suggested, if
the chitin is required to be as fully N-acetylated as possible,
but no experimental details were given.
Deacetylation of Chitin
The physicochemical characteristics of chitosan are the
degree of deacetylation and its molecular weight. These
parameters play a key role for the quality of chitosan in its

Fig. 3. Natural sources of chitosan.

Fig. 4. Isolation of chitin.

R.A. Shiekh et al.

142

various applications (Kumar, 2000; Kumar et al., 2004; Tharanathan and Kittur, 2003: Pradip et al., 2002). The major
difference between chitin and chitosan lies in their solubility.
The degree of deacetylation is the proportion of glucosamine
monomer residues in chitin. Deacetylation has a striking effect on the solubility and solution properties of chitin. The
degree of deacetylation could influence the performance of
chitosan in many of its applications. It determines the content of free amino groups in the polysaccharides and can
be employed to differentiate between chitin and chitosan.
The process of deacetylation involves the removal of acetyl
groups from the molecular chain of chitin, leaving behind
a complete amino group (-NH2) and chitosan versatility depends mainly on this high degree chemical reactive amino
groups. One of the main reactions carried out on chitin is
deacetylation, mostly by using aqueous alkali. The most
frequently used alkali is NaOH. The level of deacetylation
is governed by the alkali concentration, time of reaction,
temperature, particle size and density. While treatment with
50 wt% NaOH at 100 for 1 hour gives a product having
82% deacetylation (Figure 5), extending the reaction time to
48 h enables almost 100% deacetylation but at the expense
of a considerable decrease in solution viscosity indicating
chain degradation (Muzzarelli et al., 1980). Because of this
the degree of deacetylation is an important property in chitosan production as it affects the physicochemical such as
properties and different potential applications. Deacetylation
also affects the biodegradability and immunological activity
(Tolaimate et al., 2000). This deacetylation determines its
appropriate applications in different fields of research.

Prawn / Crab shell

HCl
Demineralization
NaOH

Deprotenization
Chitin

Chitosan Flakes
(acid soluble)

Dissolving

Milling

Filtration
Dehydration

Chitosan powder
Mixing

Chitosan Salt
(Water soluble)

Chitosan / Acid blend

(Self-dissolving)

Fig. 5. Preparation of chitin and chitosan.

NHR'

HO

RO
HOH2C

HOH2C

HO

NHR'

HO
O

NH3

R = H, GlcN, GlcNAc
R' = H, Ac
CHITOSAN

OR

HOH2C

HNO2

HOH2C
HOH2C
RO
HO

Depolymerization of Chitosan
Chitosan and its derivatives have a wide range of applications, for example thickening, film formation, metal binding
and antimicrobial activity. These applications of chitosan
have been found to be dependent on their molecular weight
and degree of deacetylation (No et al., 1997). Additionally,
controlling depolymerization of this material is useful in
order to adjust properties like viscosity, solubility and biological activity (Rege and Block, 1999). The native chitosans
have quite large molecular weight, therefore, it is necessary
to establish a reproducible method for generating low molecular weight chitosan. In general, low molecular weight chitosan can be prepared from high molecular weight chitosan
by the depolymerization process. Chitosan depolymerization
can be carried out chemically, enzymatically or physically. In
chemical depolymerization, various acids such as hydrochloric acid, nitrous acid, phosphoric acid and hydrogen fluoride
have been used to obtain low molecular weight chitosan.
Chemical depolymerization as shown in Figure 6 is mostly

Organic acid

O
HO

O
NHR'

CHO
HO
HO
HOH2C

NHR'

OR

Fig. 6. Chemical depolymerization of chitosan.

carried out by acid hydrolysis using HCl or by oxidative

reaction using HNO2 and H2O2 (Prashanth and Tharanathan,
2007).
It has been found to be specific in the sense that HNO2
attacks the amino group of D-units, with subsequent cleavage of the adjacent glycosidic linkage. In enzymatic depolymerization, several enzymes such as chitinase, chitosanase,
gluconase and some proteases have produced low molecular
weight chitosan with high water solubility. Non-specific
enzymes including lysozyme, cellulase, lipase, amylase and
pectinase that are capable of depolymerizing chitosan are
known (Muzzarelli, 1977). In this fashion, regioselective
depolymerization under mild conditions is allowed. However, the expensive cost of enzymes inhibits their use in a
commercial application. Physical depolymerization can be
carried out by ultrasonication and irradiation but the product

Chitosan Edible Coating

yield has been observed to be low (Choi et al., 2002; Baxter

et al., 2005). The most important thing about the limitations
in the use of chitosan in a number of applications is its high
viscosity and low solubility at neutral pH.
Chitosan Based Coatings
Chitosan is a polycationic polymer with specific structure
and properties and contains more than 5000 glucosamine
units and is the second most abundant natural polymer after
cellulose. Similar to the cellulose, chitosan is a fiber, but
different from plant fiber, chitosan possesses unique properties including the ability to form films. Because of positive
ionic charge on chitosan, it has the ability to bind chemically
with negatively charged fats, lipids and bile acids (Sandford,
1992). Chitosan has been wide range if applications in various fields, like waste management, food processing, nanotechnology, medicine and biotechnology. Chitosan is very
interesting material in pharmaceutical applications due to its
low toxicity, biodegradability and biocompatibility. Chitosan, as a natural polycation compound with antifungal activity (Bautista-Banos et al., 2006; Liu et al., 2007) capability
for induction of the host resistance to pathogens (Trotel-Aziz
et al., 2006) and ability to create a semi-permeable film on
fruit surface (Bautista-Banos et al., 2006; Jiang et al., 2005)
has been proven to be a natural potential fungicide in postharvest fruit. It has been reported that postharvest application of chitosan coating has a good control effect on decay
of grapes (Meng et al., 2008; Romanazzi et al., 2002). It is
also revealed that preharvest spray of antagonist combined
with postharvest chitosan coating could more significantly
enhance control effect on decay of grapes in storage than
preharvest treatment alone. It is well known that fruit quality is also a crucial factor in evaluating the effect of storage.
Preharvest-treated fruit maintained a higher ratio of soluble
solids content/titratable acid by increasing SSC and decreasing TA as compared to control fruit both in low temperature
storage and at 20. Chitosan coating form a selective permeable film on fruit surface, which result in limiting respiration and transpiration (Bautista-Banos et al., 2006). It is
beneficial at reducing weight loss of grapes in storage. At
shelf time, high weight loss in preharvest spray of antagonist
+ postharvest chitosan coating treated fruit may be due to the
reason that high temperature resulted in an increase of respiration metabolism of fruits and the loss of water absorbed
by the chitosan film on the fruit surface (Meng et al., 2008;
Wiles et al., 2000). Therefore, addition of some edible lipid
to film forming solution should be further investigated use of
chitosan, in order to prevent water loss and to maintain quality of table grapes. The capacity of chitosan coating to inhibit
the growth of several fungi has been shown for a wide vari-

143

ety of harvested commodities. According to the work carried

out by El Ghaouth et al. (1992) on two postharvest pathogens, Botrytis cinerea and Rhizopus stolonifer, the antimicrobial activity of chitosan on strawberries appears to be related
to the ability of this biopolymer to cause severe cellular
damage to the mold and interfere in the secretion of polygalacturonases rather than its ability to induce plant defence enzymes. The concentration of chitosan in the coating solution
affects the fungal decay of the fruit. A concentration of 1.5%
inhibits fungal growth during the storage period whereas
fungal decay was observed in fruit coated with a 1% chitosan
solution. It can be expected that an increase in the viscosity
of the chitosan coating solution will increase the content of
chitosan adhered to the fruit surface and the uniformity of
the coating. Studies carried out by Cisneros-Zevallos and
Krochta (2003), on Fuji apples coated with hydroxypropyl
methylcellulose, showed that the dry coating load on the
fruit surface is a function of the viscosity, draining time and
solid concentration of the coating solution. The effect of the
coating solution concentration on the dry matter adhered to
the fruit surface has been observed to be more pronounced
for high viscosity hydrocolloids. The above mentioned study
has been carried out with high molecular weight chitosan,
which could explain the differences observed in the extent of
fungal decay between fruits dipped in 1% and 1.5% chitosan.
The combined treatment of 1% chitosan solution and 0.5%
calcium gluconate inhibited the fungal decay of fruit during
the storage period. The incorporation of calcium ions in fruit
tissue promotes new cross-links between anionic homogalacturonans, strengthening the cell wall and particularly the
middle lamella, which is responsible for holding cells together. Thus, increasing the stability of the cell wall and middle
lamella by calcium treatment can be expected to improve
strawberry resistance to enzymes caused by fungal pathogens, while as the chitosan coating reduces respiration activity, thus delaying ripening and the progress of fruit decay due
to senescence and The addition of calcium gluconate to the
chitosan coating formulation increased the nutritional value
by incrementing the calcium content of the fruit (HerndezMuoz et al., 2008).
Edible Coatings
The use of edible coatings signifies one of the significant
methods for preserving quality. Edible coatings have been
traditionally used to improve food appearance and maintain
quality because they are considered eco-friendly (Khwaldia
et al., 2004). Coating films can act as barriers to moisture
and oxygen during processing, handling and storage (Xu et
al., 2007). Moreover, they can retard food deterioration by
inhibiting the growth of microorganisms, due to their natu-

144

ral intrinsic activity or to the incorporation of antimicrobial

compounds (Cha and Chinnan, 2004). Normally, edible films
are made of proteins or polysaccharides that can also help
to maintain moisture, thereby improving shelf life. Dips of
antimicrobial solutions are commonly practiced to improve
microbial stability of fresh-cut fruit. However, these antimicrobial agents rapidly disperse into the food, therefore,
reducing efficacy due to a decrease in concentration on the
fruit surface. The incorporation of antimicrobial agents into
edible coatings provides more inhibitory effects against
spoilage and pathogenic bacteria by maintaining effective
concentrations of the active compounds on the food surfaces
(Gennadios and Kurth, 1997). The use of edible coatings in
combination with antimicrobial properties or with amalgamation of antimicrobial compounds is a potential alternative to
enhance the safety and quality of fresh fruits. Chitosan coatings containing bergamot oil produced the most effective antimicrobial activity, and showed the greatest inhibition of the
respiration rates in terms of both O2 consumption and CO2
generation (Snchez-Gonzlez et al., 2011). Several types
of edible coatings have been used for extending shelf-life
of fresh commodities. Chitosan is one of the best examples
of edible coatings for improving the quality and resistivity
of the fresh cut fruits (Romanazzi et al., 2002; Chien et al.,
2007). The effectiveness of chitosan in maintaining quality
and extending shelf-life of sliced mango has been reported
by Chien and his coworkers (Chien et al., 2007). Assis and
Han also proposed chitosan for extending the shelf-life of
sliced apples and fresh strawberries, respectively (Assis et
al., 2004; Han et al., 2005). Chitosan-based edible film has
been used on strawberries to increase the shelf-life (Park et
al., 2005). A reduction in the counts of aerobic and coliforms
microorganisms was also observed during storage.
Effect of Chitosan Coating Treatments on the Physical
Characteristics of Fruits
Sensory Evaluation and Sensory Quality
Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is one of the most important
fruit crops grown in the tropical and sub-tropical regions
of the world. Being a climacteric fruit, papaya has a short
postharvest life, thus, research has focused on minimising
postharvest losses in order to prolong shelf life. Chitosan
has been proved one of the best preservative material that
delay the ripening process by inhibiting the respiration rate
in the Eksotika II papaya fruit during cold storage (Ali et al.,
2011). On Chitosan treatment an effective control in weight
loss reduction, maintained firmness, delayed changes in
the peel colour and soluble solids concentration have been
observed during 5 weeks of storage. The titratable acidity
declined throughout the storage period, though at a slower

R.A. Shiekh et al.

rate in the chitosan coated fruit as compared to the control.

The rate of respiration reduces in the chitosan treated fruits
may be the reason of delayed senescence and a reduced susceptibility to decay (Romanazzi et al., 2005). Ali and his coworkers results have revealed significant differences in taste,
peel and pulp colour, texture, and flavour. A bench of judges
gives their remarks on the sensory evaluation of all fruits
for taste, peel colour, pulp colour, texture and flavour. The
fruits treated with 1.5% chitosan attained maximum score
by the panelists in all tested parameters. The untreated fruits
or those treated with 0.5% chitosan ripened after 3 weeks
of storage and, thereafter began to decompose. These fruits
were therefore not presented to the panelists for sensory evaluation. The fruits treated with 2.0% chitosan were unable to
ripen properly even after 5 weeks of cold storage, and were
discarded from the evaluation due to unacceptable quality.
The ripe fruits with 1.5% chitosan coating had a gloss and no
wrinkles, therefore scoring 3.84, for peel colour, which was
significantly higher than the other treated fruit. The fruits
with 1.0% chitosan coating also had a good overall appearance but with some wrinkles. The most attractive pulp with
the characteristic reddish orange colour of Eksotika II papaya
was found in the fruits with 1.5% chitosan (4.30), followed
by 1.0% coated fruits (3.80), which were significantly inferior in the pulp colour. There were significant differences in
the texture of the fruits with the different coating treatments.
The fruits with 1.5% coating were rated the highest (3.98
points), with a firm, crisp pulp, which melted in the mouth.
The flavour of the fruits with 1.5% chitosan coating was
rated excellent (4.24), because the pulp was not only sweet
and pleasant, but also possessed a characteristic aroma. The
sensory attributes of the papaya fruits treated with 1.5% chitosan concentration demonstrated the overall superiority, after 5 weeks of cold storage. Kittur et al. (2001) observed that
1.0% chitosan coated mangoes had better sensory traits than
the control and the waxol treated mangoes, after 21 days of
storage.
Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) is a tropical fruit with high
commercial value in the international market. However, once
detached from the tree, the fruit loses its qualities, such as
sweet and juicy flesh and attractive bright red pericarp, within a couple of days under ambient temperatures. The short
shelf life of litchi greatly limits the marketing of the fruit
and has created many restrictions in the litchi industry. It has
been observed that both taste and colour scales of litchi pulp
decreases rapidly during storage. The pulp taste scale and/
or colour scale can reflect litchi fruit quality, and moreover,
the decrease in the taste scale was associated well with the
reduction in the colour scale (Jiang et al., 2003). Chitosan
coating delayed the decline in sensory quality, and extended

Chitosan Edible Coating

shelf life. Both of the control and the chitosan-coated peeled

fruit were commercially acceptable after 3 days of storage.
However, after 6 days of storage, the control became marketably unacceptable while the chitosan-coated peeled fruit still
had good quality. There was not any significant difference in
the sensory quality among treatments with 1%, 2% and 3%
chitosan after 3 days but significant difference between treatments with 1% and 2% chitosan after 6 days of storage (Dong
et al., 2004). Pen and Jiang (2003) reported that chitosan
coating improved the quality attributes and extended shelf
life of fresh-cut Chinese water chestnut by reducing respiration and inhibiting activities of polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase. In this study, the beneficial effects of chitosan coating on the fruits should be mainly attributed to the protective
effects preventing from surface browning and cracking, and
juice leaking.
Weight Loss
Fruit weight loss is mainly associated with respiration
and moisture evaporation through the skin. The thin skin of
strawberry fruits makes them susceptible to rapid water loss,
resulting in shrivelling and deterioration. The rate at which
water is lost depends on the water pressure gradient between
the fruit tissue and the surrounding atmosphere, and the storage temperature. Low vapour pressure differences between
the fruit and its surroundings and low temperature are recommended for the storage of strawberries. Dehydration will also
cause increase in surface-wounded fruit. Edible coatings act
as barriers, thereby restricting water transfer and protecting
fruit skin from mechanical injuries, as well as sealing small
wounds and thus delaying dehydration. Weight loss during
storage (10 and 70 5% RH) of uncoated fruit compared
to fruit coated with 1% and 1.5% chitosan, with and without
the addition of CaGl. All samples demonstrated a gradual
loss of weight during storage. Throughout storage, the
weight loss of uncoated fruit was significantly greater than
that of coated fruit. At the end of storage, untreated strawberries showed 28.7% loss in weight, whereas the weight losses
of samples coated with 1% and 1.5% chitosan were 19.6%
and 14.2%, respectively. The greater viscosity of the 1.5%
chitosan solution likely results in a coating of greater thickness, further reducing moisture loss. Incorporation of CaGlu
into the film-forming solution did not have any significant
effect on weight loss reduction of strawberries. Similarly, in
case of grapes, (Snchez-Gonzlez et al., 2011) Weight loss
occurred mainly during the first 3 days of storage and was
more pronounced for the control samples and those coated
with a pure chitosan coating than for the samples with coatings containing bergamot oil which showed the smallest
weight losses. The effect of storage time led to no signifi-

145

cant, observable differences. Therefore, with the exception

of the pure chitosan coating, the rest provided a significant
water vapour barrier, showing lower weight losses than the
uncoated samples. In both matrices, the addition of bergamot
oil improved this property, as may be expected from its hydrophobic nature. These results are coherent with the values
of the water vapour permeability (WVP) of the isolated films
reported in previous studies, where chitosan films exhibited
greater WVP than HPMC films (Vargas et al., 2008) and,
in both cases, a significant reduction of this property was
obtained when an essential oil was incorporated (SnchezGonzlez et al., 2009, 2010a, 2010b). Apart from strawberry
and grape fruits, chitosan coatings have been effective at
controlling water loss from other commodities, including
cucumber and pepper (El Ghaouth et al., 1991), papaya (Ali
et al., 2011) and longan fruit (Jiang and Li, 2001). The addition of lipids and surfactants improves the moisture retention
of the coating, although it also causes undesirable effects
on the sensory quality of fruit. Chitosan has been reported
to be more effective at delaying weight loss in banana and
mango (Kittur et al., 2001) and strawberries (Ribeiro et al.,
2007) than are starch and cellulose derivatives. The weight
loss appeared to be the major determinant of storage life and
quality of fruits. Chitosan coatings significantly reduced the
weight loss of the fruits during storage compared to the control. The minimum weight loss was observed in the chitosan
treatments of 1.5% and 2.0%. The slower rate of moisture
loss from the chitosan coated fruits may be attributed to the
additional barrier against diffusion through stomata (Paull
and Chen, 1989). In the papaya fruit, it is believed that the
major pathway for water loss is through the peel (Seymour
et al., 1993). The decline in the cuticle integrity as ripening
progresses is thought to be due to latex disruption (PerezGago et al., 2006). Paull and Chen (1989) found six times
the weight loss in solo papaya in which the cuticle was disrupted with solvents. It is evident from this study that coating
papaya with chitosan reduced the weight loss compared with
the control fruit, probably as a result of covering the cuticles
on the fruit surfaces. According to Perez-Gago et al. (2006)
water loss can be reduced by covering with a plastic film or
coating. In this study, the chitosan applied, formed a film on
the fruit skin, reducing the water and weight loss. The application of 1.5% and 2.0% chitosan coatings reduced the
weight loss to < 6% of that of the control, which is sufficient
to maintain a good appearance and the quality of Eksotika II
papaya.
Application of chitosan coating retarded the weight loss
of peeled litchi fruit. After 6 days of storage, there were 9%
(the highest) and 6% (the lowest) of weight loss of the control and 2% chitosan-coated peeled fruit, respectively. The

146

great weight loss was mainly due to juice leaking from the
pulp rather than water loss, which was different from the
fresh fruit (Jiang et al., 2003). Thus, one of beneficial effects of chitosan coating on weight loss of litchi pulp was the
protective effect in reducing juice leaking. Moreover significant differences between treatments with 1% and 2% or 3%
chitosan were observed at P 0.05 level when the fruit were
stored for 3 or 6 days at 1. Chitosan coating like protective barrier can prevent the transfer of moisture, gases, flavor
or lipids, and thus to maintain or improve food quality and to
increase food product shelf life. Polyphenol oxidase activity
of the control was increased after storage for two days, while
the polyphenol oxidase activity of chitosan treated group
decreases in two days. Because chitosan could avoid the
water in the litchi vaporized too fast and restrain the respiration of litchi to produce less bio-heat, it indirectly delayed
the increase of polyphenol oxidase activity (Dong et al.,
2004; Dong et al., 1997). The reason was also related to the
character of chitosan coating, which had a capacity to adjust
water vaporizing and control the respiration. So it produces
less bio-heat and weight loss during storage time. Under
same conditions, litchi storage life of the control group was
four days. For the treatment, the storage life was nine days.
After a storage period of four days, Green fluorescent protein
of each was: control group 60.2%, treatment group 100%.
It meant that under the same conditions the chitosan coating
was beneficial for storage life of the litchi. The storage is a
perplexing process. The coating extended litchi shelf life was
the result of integrative function such as the structure of chitosan coating, transpiration, respiration and so on.
Polyphenol Oxidase and Peroxidase Activities
Colour is one of the most important factors in fresh fruit
appearance and greatly contributes to fruit quality. Discolouration of fruits is undesirable because it results in the
fruit losing fresh color and glossiness. In fact, browning in
fruits is primarily attributed to PPO activity, which is able
to act on phenolic compounds in the presence of oxygen
(Nicolas et al., 1994). Colour changes in harvested, fully
red, ripe strawberries occur progressively during storage.
The bright red color of strawberry fruit is due to the presence of anthocyanin pigments in the fruit epidermis and
cortex. Strawberry pigments, like other anthocyanins, are
relatively unstable and may easily lose their bright color due
to degradation by oxidative enzymes such as polyphenol
oxidase (PPO), which is primarily localized in the cortex of
strawberry fruit with the anthocyanins and other phenolics
(Lpez-Serrano and Ros Barcel, 2001). PPO catalyzes the
hydroxylation of monophenolics, leading to the formation of
o-diphenol compounds and to the oxidation of o-dihydroxy

R.A. Shiekh et al.

compounds to quinones. The quinones subsequently undergo

polymerization, producing characteristic yellow to brown
colors in the fruit tissue (Mayer and Harel, 1979; Spanos
and Wrolstad, 1992). Changes in anthocyanins seem to be
one of the causes of fruit browning, and their degradation
is the result of coupled oxidation by PPO in the presence of
other phenolic compounds (Kader et al., 1999; Jiang, 2000;
Zhang et al., 2000). Nunes and his coworkers (2005) have
observed that Water loss is one of the major factors that
contribute to changes in color of stored strawberries. Water
loss plays an important role in anthocyanin degradation.
Pigment degradation is caused by increased PPO activity
as a result of physiological stress due to water loss might
contribute to the development of strawberry surface browning during storage. Water loss accelerates senescence of the
fruit, leading to membrane degradation and release of PPO
and ascorbate oxidase substrates from the vacuole, leading in
this way to oxidation of the cellular components. Caro and
Joas (2005) revealed that the rapid postharvest browning of
litchi fruit pericarp is the result of polyphenol oxidase activity, anthocyanin hydrolysis, and nonenzymatic polymerization of o-quinones into melanins. Many researchers form the
chitosan coatings by dipping fruits in chitosan solution and
studied the effect of chitosan coating on browning of litchi
fruit (Zhang and Quantick, 1997; Caro and Joas, 2005; Jiang
et al., 2005; Joas et al., 2005; Jiang et al., 2003). Zhang and
Quantick (1997) reported that chitosan coating, irrespective
of concentration (1% and 2% dissolved in 2% glutamic acid),
delayed changes in contents of anthocyanins, flavonoids, and
total phenolics. It also delayed the increase in polyphenol
oxidase (PPO) activity and partially inhibited the increase
in peroxidase activity. Jiang et al. (2005) also similarly observed that chitosan (2% in 5% acetic acid) coating delayed
the decrease in anthocyanin content and the increase in PPO
activity. Such effects of chitosan coating were also observed
with peeled litchi fruit (Dong et al., 2004), longan fruit (Jiang
and Li, 2001), and fresh-cut Chinese water chestnut vegetable (Pen and Jiang, 2003). Both polyphenol oxidase and
peroxidase activities activities of peeled litchi fruit increased
during storage. The peeled fruit coated with chitosan had
reduced activities of polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase after
six days of storage and exhibited that the coating inhibited
the two enzymes. However, the inhibition effect of activities
of polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase of the fruit stored for
six days at 1 was not enhanced significantly when the
concentration of chitosan coating increased from 2 % to 3 %.
Total Soluble Solid, Titrable Acidity and Ascorbic Acid
Fruits are essential for the proper maintenance of human
health. Fruits are foods rich in vitamins and minerals and

Chitosan Edible Coating

supply arrays of colours, flavour, texture and bulkiness to the

pleasure of eating. Total soluble solid, titrable acidity and
ascorbic acid contents of peeled litchi fruit decreased markedly after 6 days of storage, compared to the peeled fruit
before storage (Dong et al., 2004). The peeled fruit treated
with chitosan had higher contents of total soluble solid,
titratable acidity and ascorbic acid, but there was no significant difference in total soluble solid among three treatments
with 1%, 2% and 3% chitosan. Guava (Psidium guajava L.)
is an important subtropical fruit grown widely in tropical
and subtropical regions of the world. Previous studies have
indicated that fresh-cut guava coated with chitosan delayed
weight loss and increase of soluble solids content, while it
did not have any significant effect on firmness and titratable
acidity reduction compared to the control (Thommohaway et
al., 2007). Hong et al. (2012) reported the potential effects
of chitosan coating and effects of different concentration of
chitosan coatings on physiochemical characteristics of guava
fruit during the cold storage. Hong and his co-workers investigated that the soluble solids content of control and 0.5%
chitosan coating fruit samples increased drastically however
samples coated with 1.0 and 2.0% showed a slight increase
during 12 days storage. On day 6 of storage a significant difference was observed between chitosan coated samples and
the uncoated samples and fruit coated with 0.5 and 2.0% chitosan showed significant effect on soluble solids content on
day 9. Throughout the storage period, the lowest level of soluble solids content has been observed in guava coated with
2.0% chitosan. Fruits treated with 1.0 and 2.0% chitosan did
not show significant difference in soluble solids content. The
effect of chitosan coating on soluble solids content of guava
fruit was probably due to the slowing down of respiration
and metabolic activity, hence retarding the ripening process.
Due to the filmogenic property of chitosan a semipermeable film is formed around the vegetable and fruit therefore,
modifying the internal atmosphere by reducing O2 and/or
elevating CO2, and suppressing ethylene evolution (Dong et
al., 2004). Citric acid is the major organic acid in ripe guava
fruit. Titratable acidity in all samples reduced over time and
was affected by different concentrations of chitosan treatments. The decrease of titratable acidity values was directly
proportional to the chitosan concentrations, as a result, application of 2.0% chitosan coating had higher titratable acidity
than the other treatments. However, titratable acidity did not
vary significantly between the fruit samples treated with 0.5
and 1.0% chitosan during storage and the difference between
1.0 and 2.0% chitosan on day 6 was significant. The faster
reduction in acidity gave rise to a faster senescence. Han et
al. (2004) reported that the chitosan coating slowed down
the changes in titratable acidity of strawberry and raspberry,

147

effectively delaying fruit ripening. The chitosan coating at

2.0% was probably able to modify the internal atmosphere
of the fruit to prevent the decrease in titratable acidity contents. Therefore, the 2.0% chitosan coating produced a small
change in titratable acidity throughout storage. Han et al.
(2004) also observed lower acidity loss during storage in
strawberry, peach, tomato and litchi coated with chitosan.
Loss of Fruit Due to Visible Fungal Growth
Research to reduce fungicide applications in agriculture through the discovery of new natural antimicrobials is
needed to meet the growing consumer demand for food without chemical preservatives and to respond to the needs of
sustainable farming. Due to the nontoxic and biocompatible
properties of chitosan (Wu et al., 2005), it has been considered a candidate for substitution of fungicides in horticultural
cultivation (Bautista-Banos et al., 2006). The main difference between the practical grade chitosan solutions and the
commercial chitosan formulation arises from the techniques
of their preparation. Chitosan has a dual effect on hostpathogen interactions through its antifungal activity and its
ability to induce plant defense responses (Romanazzi, 2010).
Moreover, as chitosan can form an edible film when applied
to the surface of fruit and vegetables, it is clearly effective in
conferring a physical barrier to moisture loss, delaying dehydration and fruit shriveling. Therefore, its coating can prolong storage life, delay the drop in sensory quality, and control the decay of strawberry fruit (Han et al., 2004; Park et
al., 2005; Chaiprasart et al., 2006; Hernandez-Muoz et al.,
2006; Ribeiro et al., 2007). Chitosan coating can be used as a
vehicle for incorporating functional ingredients, such as antimicrobials or nutraceutical compounds that could enhance
the effects of chitosan coating or reinforce the nutritional
value of the strawberries (Vargas et al., 2006; Vu et al., 2011;
Perdones et al., 2012). This study compared the effectiveness
of practical grade chitosan when used in solution with acetic,
glutamic, formic and hydrochloric acids, and a water-soluble
commercial chitosan formulation, in controlling postharvest
diseases of strawberry. The commercial chitosan formulation
and other resistance inducers based on benzothiadiazole, oligosaccharides, soybean lecithin, calcium and organic acids,
and Abies sibirica and Urtica dioica extracts were tested.
The commercial chitosan formulation was as effective as the
practical grade chitosan solutions in the control of gray mold
and Rhizopus rot of strawberries immersed in these solutions
and kept for 4 days at 20 1 (Romanazzi et al., 2013).
Uncoated strawberries showed signs of fungal decay after
the third day of storage at 10. After six days of storage,
33.5% of uncoated fruit was infected by molds while no sign
of fungal decay could be detected by visual inspection of

148

fruits coated with 1.5% chitosan or 1.5% chitosan + 0.75%

CaGlu. Of the fruit coated with 1% chitosan, 12.5% was observed to be infected on the sixth day of storage. The capacity of chitosan coating to inhibit the growth of several fungi
has been shown for a wide variety of harvested commodities.
According to the work carried out by El Ghaouth et al. (1992)
on two postharvest pathogens, Botrytis cinerea and Rhizopus
stolonifer, the antimicrobial activity of chitosan on strawberries appears to be related to the ability of this biopolymer
to cause severe cellular damage to the mold and interfere
in the secretion of polygalacturonases rather than its ability
to induce plant defence enzymes. The concentration of chitosan in the coating solution affects the fungal decay of the
fruit. Studies carried out by Cisneros- Zevallos and Krochta,
on Fuji apples coated with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose,
showed that the dry coating load on the fruit surface is a
function of the viscosity, draining time and solid concentration of the coating solution. The effect of the coating solution
concentration on the dry matter adhered to the fruit surface
has been observed to be more pronounced for high viscosity
hydrocolloids. The present study was carried out with high
molecular weight chitosan, which could explain the differences observed in the extent of fungal decay between fruits
dipped in 1% and 1.5% chitosan. The combined treatment
of 1% chitosan solution and 0.5% calcium gluconate inhibited the fungal decay of fruit during the storage period. The
incorporation of calcium ions in fruit tissue promotes new
cross-links between anionic homogalacturonans, strengthening the cell wall and particularly the middle lamella, which
is responsible for holding cells together. Thus, increasing the
stability of the cell wall and middle lamella by calcium treatment can be expected to improve strawberry resistance to
enzymes caused by fungal pathogens. Pure chitosan coatings
have previously been reported to have antifungal effect when
applied to cold stored strawberries (Vargas et al., 2006). Recently it has been shown that the Chitosan coatings reduced
the percentage of infected strawberries as compared to noncoated ones (control) after three storage days. The antifungal
effect of bioactive coatings prepared with modified chitosan
and limonene or peppermint essential oil on the fungal decay
of cold-stored strawberries has recently been evaluated (Vu
et al., 2011). The use of pure chitosan film led to a reduction
in the growth of B. cinerea, thus showing a certain degree of
antifungal activity. This antifungal activity of chitosan films
was enhanced by the addition of lemon essential oil (Perdones
et al., 2011). Figure 7 clearly demonstrated the uncoated
strawberries are dehydrated and are largely contaminated by
moulds after storage whereas strawberries coated with edible
bioactive coating based on modified chitosan kept a good
hydrated, red-colored appearance after storage for many

R.A. Shiekh et al.

Fig. 7. Appearance of strawberries coated with modified chitosanbased formulation containing limonene and emulsifier.

days (Vu et al., 2011). Functionalized chitosan-based edible

coating could become a promising method to carry specific
antifungal agents without detrimental effects on strawberries
or other fruits.
Firmness
Texture is a critical quality attribute in the consumer acceptability of fresh fruit and vegetables. Strawberry is a soft
fruit that suffers a rapid loss of firmness during ripening
which contributes greatly to its short postharvest life and susceptibility to fungal contamination. Fruit texture properties
are affected by cell turgidity and the structure and composition of the cell wall polysaccharides. The biochemical basis
of strawberry softening is not clear. Strawberry softening has
been associated with the degradation of the middle lamella
of cortical parenchyma cells, resulting in a dramatic increase
in pectin solubilisation, with slight changes in pectin molecular weight and (Koh and Melton, 2002) small decreases
in the content of hemicelluloses. Changes in flesh firmness of
control and treated fruit during the storage period of six days
at 10 and 70 5% RH, all the samples presented similar
initial flesh firmness values. Chitosan coatings exerted a
beneficial effect on fruit firmness such that, by the end of
the storage period, all the treatments gave rise to fruit with
higher flesh firmness values than untreated fruit. Indeed, chitosan treatment retained the initial flesh firmness of fruit and
significant differences were only found on the sixth day of
storage. By contrast, uncoated fruit lost its firmness gradually
during the storage period. Significant differences were noted
between 1% and 1.5% chitosan coating treatments, higher

149

Chitosan Edible Coating

values for flesh firmness being found for fruit coated with
1.5% chitosan. The beneficial effect of the elevated chitosan
concentration on firmness has also been reported for tomato
(El Ghaouth et al., 1992), peach, Japanese pear, kiwifruit (Du
et al., 1997), Murcott tangor (Chien et al., 2007), papaya
(Ali et al., 2011) and guava (Keqian Hong et al., 2012). Fruit
firmness is a major attribute that dictates the postharvest life
and quality of fruit. Chitosan coatings significantly reduced
the loss in firmness of fruits during storage. Fruit firmness
increased as chitosan concentration increased. The retention
of firmness with chitosan coating is in agreement with the
results of Bautista-Banos et al. (2003), where solo papayas
treated with 1.5% chitosan coating were firmer than the control during 14 days storage, at ambient temperature. Fruits,
such as mango, strawberry, tomato and pears, have also been
reported to be firmer when coated with chitosan (Zhu et al.,
2008) Fruit softening was greatly reduced as the chitosan
concentration increased. The control and 0.5% treated fruit
lost their textural integrity faster than the higher concentration coatings, which largely maintained the fruit appearance
and quality until the end of storage. Fruit softening is due to
deterioration in the cell structure, the cell wall composition
and the intracellular materials (Seymour et al., 1993). It is a
biochemical process involving the hydrolysis of pectin and
starch by enzymes, such as wall hydrolases. The initial softening of papaya is characterised by an increased solubility
of the cell wall pectin and the softening of pectin (Lazan and
Ali, 1993). The maintenance of firmness in the fruits treated
with 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0% chitosan coatings could be due
to their higher antifungal activity and covering of the cuticle
and lenticels, thereby reducing infection, respiration and
other ripening processes during storage (Asgar et al., 2005;
Martnez-Romero et al., 2006). A recent study (Kerch et al.,
2011) indicated that coatings of chitosan and chitooligosaccharides applied to strawberries led to an improvement in
fruit firmness and to a reduction in vitamin C and anthocyanin content.
Respiration Rate
It is known that the environmental temperature affects the
fruit respiration and the respiration affects the fruit temperature in return (Luo and Cai, 2001). When the temperature
around the fruit rises, the respiration increases which leads
to the increase of the temperature inside the fruit. The effect
of storage temperature on the respiration rate of litchi coated
with chitosan solution is well discussed in the literature (Lin
et al., 2011). The respiration rate of litchi with chitosan coating was lower than the uncoated litchi. The pericarps temperature was lower than the ambient temperature because of
litchis transpiration. It meant that litchi coated with chitosan

Table 1. The effect of storage time on respiration rate of litchi fruit.

Storage days
(d)

Temperature
()

2
4
6
9

33
33.2
34.3
33

The difference in respiration rate

between two and six days

Respiration rate
(mgCO2 kg-1 h-1)
Treatment

Control

97.95
95.79
98.27
101.9

96.65
104.2
107.6

0.32

10.95

had produced less bio-heat than that of uncoated. Chitosan

coating had definite moisture absorption and retention abilities as found above. Furthermore, chitosan coating on litchi
pericarp had two sides: the outside surface had characteristics
of air-dried film that chitosan molecular chains had arranged
in order and closely packed like a barrier to prevent the passage of heat from surrounding into litchi. Uncoated pericarp
had no protective barrier thus facilitating heat transfer from
surrounding into litchi, which led to water loss. As a result,
chitosan film could restrain the respiration of litchi and produce less the bio-heat in storage period. Table 1 shows the
change of respiration rate with the increasing of storage time
(Lin et al., 2011).
The difference in respiration rate of the treatment was
lower than that of the control during the storage period. After the storage for 6 days, the difference in respiration rate
of the treatment was found to be 0.32 (Lin et al., 2011). The
respiration rate was increased upto 10.95 for control. The
change of respiration rate of the treatment was lower, i.e. the
respiration of litchi coated with chitosan was maintained at
a low state. It implied that the saccharine of the treatment
for respiration was exhausted little and it led to extension
of litchis shelf life. In addition, the effect of chitosan coatings on the CO2 production of strawberries stored at 10
for six days. On the first day of storage, chitosan coating had
a stimulatory effect on the respiration rate, a phenomenon
that has been reported previously for strawberries (El Ghaouth, 1991; Perdones et al., 2012) and tomatoes (El Ghaouth
et al., 1992). After the first day of storage, CO2 production
was lower for coated strawberries than for the control with
differences becoming more noticeable after the third day
of storage. Between the coating concentrations applied, respiration rate was lower for fruit coated with 1.5% chitosan
but no clear differences were found between samples coated
with or without the addition of CaGlu. The respiration pattern for coated fruit differed from that of untreated fruit. The
latter showed a slight increase in CO2 production at the end
of the storage period, which could be associated with fruit

150

damage and fungal decay. For coated strawberries, the respiration rate showed a minimum on the third storage day and
returned to values similar to those obtained after the first day.
Internal gas atmosphere modification has been suggested to
be the cause of reduced CO2 production by coated fruits. In
this regard, the gas barrier properties and perm selectivity
(the ratio of PCO2/PO2 permeation coefficient) of the edible
coating applied to the skin surface and their dependence on
relative humidity and temperature will play an important role
in the changes in endogenous O2 and CO2 levels. It is well
known that excessive restriction of gas exchange can lead to
anaerobiosis and the development of off-flavour. Chitosan
coating has been reported to modify the internal atmosphere
of tomatoes (El Ghaouth et al., 1992), Japanese pear (Du et
al., 1997), strawberries (Perdones et al., 2012) and apples
(Gemma and Du, 1998) by depletion of endogenous O2 and a
rise in CO2 without achieving anaerobiosis.
External Colour
One of the important factors in the perception of strawberry fruit quality is the colour of the fruit. Coating treatments did not report significant changes in initial colour
coordinates of fruit. It has been observed that uncoated fruits
are significantly darker than coated fruit throughout the storage period. The chitosan concentration of the coating solution gave rise to significant differences in fruit colour. By
the end of the storage period, surface colour of strawberries
had decreased by around 27% for control fruit and by around
18% and 7% for fruit coated with 1% and 1.5% chitosan, respectively. Incorporation of calcium gluconate in the coating
formulation did not apply any additional effect on delaying
fruit darkening. Changes in the chroma value of the strawberry surface during storage develop a less bright colouration, as evidenced by lower values of chroma. The reduction
in chroma values was significantly greater for uncoated fruit,
and significant differences with respect to initial values were
found after the second day of storage. As regards coated
fruit, no significant differences were found among samples
treated with different concentrations of chitosan. Changes
in the chroma of coated fruit with storage time were slight
and only became significant at the end of the storage period.
Chroma was reduced by around 30% for control and 10% for
coated fruit. The hue angle of uncoated strawberry began to
decrease after the second day of storage and at the end of the
storage period, the decline was 32%. The hue angle of coated
fruit did not show any significant change during storage.
Colour changes in harvested, fully red, ripe strawberries occur progressively during storage. Fruit darkens, skin colour
becomes less chromatic and surface browning develops. Less
red skin and darkening due to oxidative browning reactions

R.A. Shiekh et al.

have been found to be more marked in ripe strawberries that

suffer greater moisture loss during storage (Nunes et al.,
2005). The control of moisture loss by chitosan coatings contributes to minimizing external colour changes in fully ripe
strawberries. Along with water loss, colour changes in strawberry fruit are greatly influenced by storage temperature. It is
thus to be expected that colour differences between control
and coated strawberries be more accentuated in fruit stored at
higher temperatures. It is also reported that factors that could
also have an influence on the development of dark-colored
pigments include changes in ascorbic acid and in sugar profiles, peroxidase activity, and other phenolic compounds that
are good substrates for enzymatic browning (Nunes et al.,
2005).
Antibacterial Activity of Chitosan Solutions
Chitosan has been shown to have antibacterial activities
on the growth of a wide variety of bacteria. Recently the in
vitro antibacterial activity and mechanism of action of two
kinds of acid-soluble chitosan and one water-soluble chitosan against apricot fruit rot pathogen Burkholderia seminalis
has been observed (Lou et al., 2011). Generally, the inhibition activity of chitosan depends on the type, concentration,
molecular weight and degree of deacetylation. It has been
shown that acid-solution chitosan particularly chitosan A at a
concentration of 2.0 mg/mL demonstrated strong inhibition
activity against apricot fruit pathogen Burkholderia seminalis while as water-solution chitosan C has shown limited inhibition activity. The antibacterial activity and mechanism of
action of acid-soluble chitosan has been explained based on
membrane disruption, cell lysis, abnormal osmotic pressure,
and additional chitosan coating around the bacteria based on
integrity of cell membranes test, out membrane permeability
assays and transmission electron microscopy observation. In
addition, biofilm biomass was markedly reduced after treating with acid-soluble chitosan, indicating the importance of
biofilm formation in the antibacterial mechanism of chitosan.
Sanchez-Gonzalez et al. (2011a) developed antibacterial
composite films based on chitosan or hydroxypropylmethylcellulose and different essential oils (lemon, tea tree or
bergamot), which were applied on the surface of inoculated
agar plates, which were used as a model of a solid food
system. In this study, an inhibition of the growth of bacteria
(Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus) was observed for chitosan films that incorporated
essential oils. The antibacterial activity of the chitosan films
have enhanced when the added essential oils were more effective than the polymer, like in the case of Gram-positive
bacteria. Chitosan-essential oil edible coatings have proven
to be effective at extending the shelf-life of some fruit and

Chitosan Edible Coating

vegetables, such as sweet pepper (Xing et al., 2011) and

table grapes (Sanchez-Gonzalez et al., 2011b).

151
E. and Wilson, C.L. (2006). Chitosan as a potential natural compound to control pre and postharvest diseases of horticultural
commodities. Crop Prot., 25, 108-118.

Conclusion
Because of numerous potential applications and properties, chitosan has gained lot of attention. Antibacterial,
antifungal and film forming properties of chitosan make it
an ideal for use as biodegradable antimicrobial packaging
material to improve the storability of perishable fruits. The
antimicrobial activity of chitosan against a wide range of
food borne filamentous fungi, yeast, and bacteria has made
it a potential food preservative. It is clearly demonstrated
by numerous researches that chitosan can be used as an effective preservative or coating material for improvement of
quality and shelf life of various fruits. It is clearly shown that
chitosan, as a preservative material, could delay the ripening process by inhibiting the respiration rate in fruits. This
suggests that chitosan not only maintains firmness but also
improves the postharvest quality during cold storage and also
suggests that chitosan is promising as an edible coating to be
used in commercial postharvest applications for prolonging
the storage life of fruits. Since chitosan application modified
the respiration pattern of fruits, further research is underway
to evaluate the effect of this treatment on the fruit flavor profile.

Bautista-Baos, S., Hernndez-Lpez, M., Bosquez-Molina, E. and

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