Novel Edible Coating Containing Essential Oil Nanoemulsions to Prolong the Shelf Life of Vegetable Products

Edible coatings are considered an environmentally friendly technology, able to extend the shelf-life of fruit and vegetables. In the present work, a novel approach to the preservation of vegetable products is proposed, through the development of edible coatings, containing nanoemulsified natural antimicrobial compounds. Modified chitosan was initially selected as film-forming biopolymer, owing to its inherent antimicrobial activity. Different essential oil nanoemulsions, with variable composition, mean droplet size and surface charge, containing lemon, mandarin, oregano or clove essential oils, were developed to maximize in vitro the interaction with the modified chitosan coating and promote the resulting antimicrobial activity. The combined use of nanoemulsified lemon essential oil with modified chitosan resulted in the remarkable increase in antimicrobial activity, with respect to other essential oils. Therefore, this formulation, comprising 0.05%wt modified chitosan and 0.1%wt nanoemulsified lemon essential oil, was further tested in product for the stabilization of a leaf vegetable, such as rucola, during a shelf-life, consisting of storage at 4 degrees C for 3 d and then at 8 degrees C for a total of 21 d. Microbial viability as well as colour and texture changes were monitored during the shelf-life. The obtained results showed that the incorporation of nanoencapsulated lemon essential oil into the modified chitosan coating prolonged the shelf life of rucola leaves from 3 to 7 d, in comparison to the untreated sample. Moreover, the modified chitosan containing the nanoemulsified antimicrobial caused a significantly longer shelf-life also in comparison to a coating made of modified chitosan or essential oil alone. In conclusion, thanks to this novel treatment it is possible to prolong the shelf life of delicate leaf vegetables to about 10 - 14 d, without causing any significant alteration of the organoleptic properties of the product, preventing the loss of firmness and colour changes and preserving palatability during storage