Dora Szekely
Szent Istvan University, Hungary
Title: Improvement of shelf life quality of apple using gelatin-based edible coating
Biography
Biography: Dora Szekely
Abstract
The manufacture of biodegradable and edible films for food packaging application has gained increased interest as an alternative to conventional food packaging polymers due to the sustainable nature. Heightened consumer demand for enhanced keeping quality and freshness of foods has given rise to the concept of such packaging that can maintain product quality and freshness, improve sensory properties, or enhance product safety and shelf life. Research on the use of edible films as packaging materials continues because of the potential for these films to enhance food quality, food safety, and product shelf life. Packaging films can be successfully produced from all gelatin sources and the behaviour and characteristics of gelatin-based films can be altered through the incorporation of other food ingredients to produce composite films possessing enhanced physical and mechanical properties. Our gelatin films were prepared with addition of glycerol and water, which resulted greater elongation but lower tensile strength values. The apple samples were coated with the prepared suspensions. Shelf-life was evaluated using parameters such as changes in weight loss, appearance and antioxidant capacity and total polyphenol content. The coating significantly reduced the harvested fruit weight loss and maintained the general appearance and hence acceptability during the investigation period in comparison to non-coating apple samples.