Physicochemical, Morphological, and Functional Characterization of Edible Anthocyanin-Enriched Aloe vera Coatings on Fresh Figs ( Ficus carica L.)

• Published in: Gels Vol. 8; no. 10; p. 645
• Main Authors: Al-Hilifi, Sawsan Ali, Al-Ali, Rawdah Mahmood, Al-Ibresam, Orass T, Kumar, Nishant, Paidari, Saeed, Trajkovska Petkoska, Anka, Agarwal, Vipul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 11.10.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Aloe; Anthocyanins; Antioxidants; Brix value; Coatings; Fruits; Glycerol; Minimum weight; Morphology; Nanoemulsions; Oils & fats; Quality management; Respiration; Shelf life; Vegetables; Weight loss; Weight reduction; antioxidant; coating; fig; postharvest shelf life; fruit decay; Aloe vera; anthocyanin
• ISSN: 2310-2861
• DOI: 10.3390/gels8100645

In the present investigation, Aloe vera gel (AVG)-based edible coatings enriched with anthocyanin were prepared. We investigated the effect of different formulations of aloe-vera-based edible coatings, such as neat AVG (T1), AVG with glycerol (T2), Aloe vera with 0.2% anthocyanin + glycerol (T3), and AVG with 0.5% anthocyanin + glycerol (T4), on the postharvest quality of fig (Ficus carica L.) fruits under refrigerated conditions (4 °C) for up to 12 days of storage with 2-day examination intervals. The results of the present study revealed that the T4 treatment was the most effective for reducing the weight loss in fig fruits throughout the storage period (~4%), followed by T3, T2, and T1. The minimum weight loss after 12 days of storage (3.76%) was recorded for the T4 treatment, followed by T3 (4.34%), which was significantly higher than that of uncoated fruit (~11%). The best quality attributes, such as the total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), and pH, were also demonstrated by the T3 and T4 treatments. The T4 coating caused a marginal change of 0.16 in the fruit titratable acidity, compared to the change of 0.33 in the untreated fruit control after 12 days of storage at 4 °C. Similarly, the total soluble solids in the T4-coated fruits increased marginally (0.43 °Brix) compared to the uncoated control fruits (>2 °Brix) after 12 days of storage at 4 °C. The results revealed that the incorporation of anthocyanin content into AVG is a promising technology for the development of active edible coatings to extend the shelf life of fig fruits.