Biochemical and color stability preservation of strawberry using edible coatings based on jicama starch/calcium propionate/agarwood bouya essential oil during cold storage

Abstract

The appearance and color of fruit are important quality factors because they are easy to identify and affect whether or not people will buy it. The color and appearance of the fruit draw people's attention and let them know that it is fresh. Strawberry's bright red color comes from a chemical called anthocyanin. People are drawn to products that are bright red because they look fresh. Meanwhile during storage, strawberries lose their form and color, and their biochemical qualities, such as anthocyanins, flavonoids, phenols, and antioxidants, change as well. These natural substances in strawberries are important for keeping people healthy and meeting their food needs. This study looked at how the natural composition of strawberries changed after they were treated with edible coatings. The edible coating used in this study consisted of three main components: a combination of jicama starch (JS), agarwood bouya essential oil (AE), and calcium propionate (CA). The final results were analyzed using the TOPSIS Shannon Entropy method to determine the best treatment. TOPSIS defined as a multi-criterion decision-making analytic method. From the TOPSIS results JS-AE edible coating ranked highest at 0.717, demonstrating excellent color density (7.62), polymeric color (0.170), percent polymeric color (16.98), total flavonoid content (3.99 g kg⁻¹), and antioxidant activity (56.74% Radical scavenging activity) of strawberry during 16 days of storage at 4 °C compared to the control samples. Further development of this research needs to be done, particularly in the area of sensory analysis, to find out whether consumers would prefer these new coatings as a way to maintain the quality of fresh fruit. In particular, there should be more types of fruit and vegetable applications.