Comparison and evaluation of effect of Chitosan as edible coating to maintain the postharvest quality and enhance shelf-life of Psidium guajava and Fragaria ananassa fruits

    Preservation of fruits post-harvest has always been a major problem for farmers and industries because of their short-shelf life and high perishability. Several methods are followed for preservation such as cold storage, use of wax coatings, each of these has their own disadvantages. So, in search of a perfect alternative for these preservative methods, use of edible coatings has shown a significant effect and benefit on fruit preservation. Chitosan, a natural polymer was chosen as an edible coating because of its properties such as biodegradability, non-toxicity. Guava and strawberry are the fruit with short shelf life due to intense metabolic activity. In attempt to minimize these post-harvest problems, chitosan (1%) was used as an edible coating for a period of 96hrs and at a temperature of 25±5 ˚C on guava and strawberry and evaluated its physiochemical characteristics and anti-oxidant system. It was observed that there was a less decrease in total sugar content (simple sugars), increase in peroxidase and catalase activity and also decrease in the fresh weight loss. These results suggested that chitosan effectively prolonged the quality attributes in guava and strawberry post-harvest, by delaying processes like ripening and increase of anti-oxidant activity, upon storing at a temperature of 25±5 ˚C