Publicação
Research and characterization of new materials for the production of edible coatings
| Resumo: | Tropical fruits are subjected to great losses from harvest to consumption. The main objective of this work was to research and characterize new materials as galactomannans and determine the optimal composition of galactomannan-based coatings in view of their application to extend the shelf life of several tropical fruits. Galactomannans extracted from seeds of Caesalpinea pulcherrima, Adenanthera pavonina, Gleditsia triacanthos and Sophora japonica were characterized as coatings for five tropical fruits: acerola (Malpighia emarginata), cajá (Spondias lutea), mango (Mangifera indica), pitanga (Eugenia uniflora) and seriguela (Spondias purpurea). The intrinsic viscosity of galactomannans solutions with and without glycerol, were determined. The surface properties of fruits was determined, and different formulations of aqueous galactomannan solutions (0.5 %, 1.0 % and 1.5 %) with glycerol (1.0 %; 1.5 % and 2.0 %) were tested in terms of wettability on the five fruits. To analyse the capacity of the galactomannans to decrease the fungal growth, tests using four strains of fungi were performed with: Penicillium commune, Penicillium crustosum, Penicillium roqueforti and Botrytis cinerea. The galactomannan that demonstrated to provide a more significant fungal inhibition was G. triacanthos. The C. pulcherrima seed galactomannan was analysed to determine its sub-chronic toxicity in mice, measuring the evolution of weight, glycemic levels and total cholesterol levels during three months; no toxicity was observed. The weight loss from acerola and mango, coated with galactomannan from C. pulcherrima, during storage time was determined, giving good indications that the use of solutions of this galactomannan and glycerol as coating decreases the weight loss of the fruits. The obtained results confirmed the suitability of galactomannan-based coatings to prolong the shelf life of tropical fruits. |
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| Autores principais: | Cerqueira, M. A. |
| Outros Autores: | Lima, A. M. P.; Teixeira, J. A.; Moreira, R. A.; Vicente, A. A. |
| Ano: | 2008 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | capítulo de livro |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso aberto |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade do Minho |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho |
| Resumo: | Tropical fruits are subjected to great losses from harvest to consumption. The main objective of this work was to research and characterize new materials as galactomannans and determine the optimal composition of galactomannan-based coatings in view of their application to extend the shelf life of several tropical fruits. Galactomannans extracted from seeds of Caesalpinea pulcherrima, Adenanthera pavonina, Gleditsia triacanthos and Sophora japonica were characterized as coatings for five tropical fruits: acerola (Malpighia emarginata), cajá (Spondias lutea), mango (Mangifera indica), pitanga (Eugenia uniflora) and seriguela (Spondias purpurea). The intrinsic viscosity of galactomannans solutions with and without glycerol, were determined. The surface properties of fruits was determined, and different formulations of aqueous galactomannan solutions (0.5 %, 1.0 % and 1.5 %) with glycerol (1.0 %; 1.5 % and 2.0 %) were tested in terms of wettability on the five fruits. To analyse the capacity of the galactomannans to decrease the fungal growth, tests using four strains of fungi were performed with: Penicillium commune, Penicillium crustosum, Penicillium roqueforti and Botrytis cinerea. The galactomannan that demonstrated to provide a more significant fungal inhibition was G. triacanthos. The C. pulcherrima seed galactomannan was analysed to determine its sub-chronic toxicity in mice, measuring the evolution of weight, glycemic levels and total cholesterol levels during three months; no toxicity was observed. The weight loss from acerola and mango, coated with galactomannan from C. pulcherrima, during storage time was determined, giving good indications that the use of solutions of this galactomannan and glycerol as coating decreases the weight loss of the fruits. The obtained results confirmed the suitability of galactomannan-based coatings to prolong the shelf life of tropical fruits. |
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