Improving Postharvest Storage Quality of Cucumber Fruit by Modified Atmosphere Packaging and Biomaterials

Abstract

The present study was conducted with the aim of increasing storage duration of cucumber fruits by using eco-friendly edible biomaterials and nanotechnology. Hence, the effects of postharvest-applied lemongrass oil (LO) and propolis extract (PEx), alone or in combination with modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), on the weight loss, fruit firmness, sensory index, chilling injury (CI), decay incidence (DI), and soluble solid concentration (SSC) of cucumber fruits were tested. Two different doses (0.2% and 0.5%) of both LO and PEx were tested in present study. Application of LO and PEx was performed by dipping the fruits into the solutions at 21 ± 1 °C for 3 minutes; after drying for 30 minutes, fruits were transferred to a cold room and kept at 4.5 ± 0.5 °C and 95% relative humidity (RH). Studies were continued for 24 days, and quality parameters were measured at 4-day intervals. Two-day shelf-life simulation was also applied to fruits after each interval, and the same quality parameters were observed. Results suggest that the combination of MAP bags with LO or PEx treatment provides better conditions for postharvest storage of cucumbers and that storage duration might be extended to 20 days. Fruits treated with LO or PEx and stored in MAP bags maintained weight and SSC, were firmer, showed lower DI, and expressed lower CI (P < 0.05) throughout storage.