Extending the shelf-life of pomegranate arils with chitosan-ascorbic acid coating

- Pomegranate arils were coated with chitosan and ascorbic acid solutions.
- Ascorbic acid evaluated as a proper acidifier for preparing chitosan solutions.
- Chitosan-ascorbic acid coating reduced bacterial and fungal growth in arils.
- Chitosan-ascorbic acid coating prolonged shelf-life of arils up to 21 days at 5 °C.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the mixture of chitosan and ascorbic acid as an edible coating to extend the shelf-life of pomegranate arils. Pomegranate arils coated with varying concentrations of chitosan and ascorbic acid were stored at 5 ± 1 °C for 28 days. Physical, chemical, microbiological and sensory quality attributes of the arils were determined during storage. There were no significant differences in the contents of anthocyanins, organic acids and sugars for coated and control (uncoated) samples during storage. Chitosan-ascorbic coating helped keeping the visual quality of arils during storage as confirmed by their surface color measurement. Chitosan-ascorbic coating inhibited bacterial and fungal growth on arils. Furthermore, the chitosan-ascorbic acid solution inhibited the mesophilic aerobic bacteria immediately after coating and coated arils presented no growth during storage. The bacterial and fungal growth were analyzed by using the Gompertz model to estimate the microbiological shelf-life of samples. The results revealed that chitosan-ascorbic coating can prolong the lag time of microorganisms and extend the shelf-life of arils up to 21 days during storage at 5 °C. Sensory scores (color, taste, aroma) were also higher in chitosan-ascorbic acid coated arils that were quite acceptable even after 25 days of refrigerated storage.