Improvement of Shelf Life and Physicochemical Quality of Fresh–Cut Green Bean Pods (Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Polista) Using Edible Coatings

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Department of Horticultural Crops Tech. Res., Food Technology Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt.

Abstract

Fresh-cut fruits and vegetables offer to consumers highly nutritious, convenient and healthful commodities in
case of maintaining the freshness of the non-processed products. Postharvest technologies have allowed horticultural
industries to meet the global demands of local and large scale production and intercontinental distribution of fresh
produce that have high nutritional and sensory quality. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the physicochemical
and microbiological parameters of fresh-cut green bean pods (Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Polista) stored at 4⁰C for 20
days with edible coatings. Edible coatings prepared with carrageenan, guar gum, potassium sorbate and citric acid were
tested. The analyses carried out on the samples were: total sugars, L- ascorbic acid, weight loss, firmness, color
attributes, total phenolics, total flavonoids, antioxidant activity, as well as, microbiological analysis (total viable
bacteria, psychrophilic bacteria and yeast and mold counts). The results indicated that coated pods (carrageenan, guar
gum, potassium sorbate and citric acid) extended and improved their shelf life quality due to minimization of the
physicochemical changes. Therefore, the results indicated that the formulated edible coating has potential to extend the
shelf life and maintain quality of fresh-cut green bean pods.

Keywords

Suez Canal University Journal of Food Sciences
Volume 4, Issue 1
January 2017
Pages 1-10

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