Application of MRI to monitor the process of ripening and decay in citrus treated with chitosan solutions
G. Galed, M. E. Fernández-Valle, A. Martínez and A. Heras
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Volume 22, Issue 1 , January 2004, Pages 127-137
2004
บทคัดย่อ
Chitosan is a biopolymer, which has numerous applications in agriculture and agroindustries. Coating fruitand vegetables with chitosan has some positive advantages for the long-term storage of foods, because the film of chitosan provides a kind of an active package, which allows a gradual release of preservatives, thus inhibiting fungal growth and maintaining the external appearance of thefruitfor a longer time In this study, two varieties of citrus, Fortune mandarins and Valencia oranges were coated with Biorend® (IDEBIO S.L., Salamanca, Spain) (a compound whose active molecule is chitosan), to investigate its effect on maturity, decay, and damage, and therefore, to find a better method for the long term storage offruit.The effect of chitosan as a fungistatic was also studied. To that end, the fruitwas maintained in a damp storage room, ideal conditions for the growth of fungi. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique was used to monitor the process of ripening and decay in the citrusfruitthat had been coated with chitosan. The dissolution of the chitosan on the mandarins and oranges produced excellent results in terms of percentage ofweight loss,MRI, and visual appearance.