Effect of pectin-wax coating on the quality of fresh-cut apples

Efficacy of different coating materials including citric acid (CA) as a control, pectin-wax (PW) mixture and pectin-wax mixture containing pistachio hull extract (PWE) were investigated using fresh-cut apples by considering quality attributes at time 0 and at the termination of gauged storage time. The specimens were kept under two separate temperatures at 5 °C for 8 days and at 20 °C for 32h. Changes in weight, color, total phenolic content, were examined at different time points along storage time. Results indicated that the apple pieces coated with PWE showed the lowest increase in browning index followed by specimens coated with PW. The applications of coatings were effective on delaying the degradation of specimens' colors. The effect of coating fresh-cut apples with PWE was less pronounced on a* values than on L* and b* values. The effect of coating by PW and PWE was significant compared to Sample control, furthermore coating with PW was affected L* values significantly. It is worthy to mention that temperature also was a factor affecting the specimens color. It was observed that specimens kept at lower temperature have maintained the color coordinates. Weight loss was observed significantly in uncoated specimens comparing to those prepared with coating, over time of storage at both temperatures. The coatings were effective in maintaining phenolic components where losing in phenolics was higher in non-coated specimens.