Title: Effect of aloe vera gel-glycerol edible coating on the shelf-life and the kinetics of colour change of minimally processed cucumber during storage

Authors: Ayesha Sarker; Angelos Deltsidis; Md. Rayhan Shaheb; Tony E. Grift

Addresses: Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1304 West Pennsylvania Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Department of Food Engineering and Tea Technology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, 3114, Bangladesh ' Department of Horticulture, University of Georgia, 2360 Rainwater Road, Tifton, GA 31793, USA ' Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1304 West Pennsylvania Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, USA ' Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1304 West Pennsylvania Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, USA

Abstract: The effect of aloe vera (AV) gel-glycerol edible coating on the shelf-life of minimally processed cucumber was studied. To assess the optimal coating formulation, four concentrations (0, 30, 50 and 100% [v/v]) were tested. Coated cucumber slices were stored at 4 ± 1°C and at 20 ± 1°C. Slices coated with 50% and 100% AV showed reduced physicochemical changes and suppressed microbial loads while maintaining overall visual quality (OVQ) during storage. Therefore, a substantial AV gel concentration (50% or more) with 0.5% glycerol is recommended as a potential treatment for shelf-life extension of minimally processed cucumber. A first-order kinetic model fitted well to the experimental data of L*, a*, and b* colour space parameters, and the effect of storage temperature on colour changes was successfully described by Arrhenius' law. Thus, the kinetic parameters can be used to predict the shelf-life of fresh-cut cucumber during storage.

Keywords: AV gel-glycerol; edible coating; shelf-life; minimally processed cucumber; storage; kinetics; slices; texture; quality parameter; mould; yeast; bacteria.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPTI.2021.116079

International Journal of Postharvest Technology and Innovation, 2021 Vol.8 No.1, pp.38 - 60

Received: 15 Sep 2020
Accepted: 12 Mar 2021
Published online: 08 Jul 2021 *

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