EFFICIENCY OF PRETREATMENT OF STRAWBERRIES WITH CHITOSAN SOLUTIONS DURING COLD STORAGE IN A MODIFIED GAS ATMOSPHERE

Abstract

Strawberries (Fragaria ananassa) belong to short-term berries. Many technologies are used to extend its shelf life. One of the current technologies is the use of pretreatment of berries with polysaccharide solutions before refrigerated storage. This treatment makes it possible to reduce weight loss and improve the overall quality of berries by forming a protective barrier film on their surface. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of chitosan strawberries pre-treatment while storing it in a refrigerated chamber using a modified gas atmosphere. To achieve the purpose, strawberries were treated with 0,05 %; 0,2 %; 0,5 % aqueous solutions of low molecular weight chitosan were stored in a refrigerator at t 0 + 2 °C using polyethylene bags of 30 microns thickness. Unprocessed berries were used as a control. All experimental studies were performed in triplicate. According to the research results it was found that the weight loss of treated berries was 1,48 – 5,11 % and in the control 11,35 %. The mass fraction of sugars at the end of storage in the treated berries was (2,2–2,6 %), which is 0,2–0,6 times higher than in the control.. The content of ethyl alcohol is fixed in all samples. In the control variant, it was 0,87 %, and in the samples the treatment was from 0,57 – 0,8 % According to the results of the tasting evaluation, the best performance was in the sample with a concentration of 0,5 % Pretreatment of strawberry berries with aqueous solutions of low molecular weight chitosan has a positive effect on the quality of strawberry berries and can be used as an effective tool in the storage of berries

Keywords

• storage
• strawberries
• chitosan
• post-harvest processing