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Effect of Chitosan–Beeswax Edible Coatings on the Shelf-life of Sapodilla

(Achras zapota) Fruit

Article  in  Journal of Packaging Technology and Research · December 2018

DOI: 10.1007/s41783-018-0047-0

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Journal of Packaging Technology and Research
https://doi.org/10.1007/s41783-018-0047-0

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Effect of Chitosan–Beeswax Edible Coatings on the Shelf‑life

of Sapodilla (Achras zapota) Fruit
S. Y. Foo1 · Z. A. Nur Hanani1 · A. Rozzamri1 · W. Z. Wan Ibadullah2 · M. R. Ismail‑Fitry1

Received: 11 September 2018 / Accepted: 12 November 2018

© Indian Institute of Packaging 2018

Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of chitosan and beeswax as edible coatings on the shelf-life of sapo-
dilla (Achras zapota). The coating formulations used were chitosan only (C), chitosan with 10% beeswax (C + 10B) and
chitosan with 20% beeswax (C + 20B). Sapodilla without any coating (WC) was used as a control. The coating formulations,
C + 10B and C + 20B had shown to be the best in reducing the senescence of sapodilla as they slowed down the weight loss
and breakdown of soluble solids in the fruit, while retaining the firmness and skin colour. Microbial populations of C + 10B
and C + 20B were also below permissible microbial food limit (5 log CFU g−1) over the period of 17 days if compared to
WC and C, which exceeded the limit. However, C + 10B started to shrivel towards the end of storage. In conclusion, C + 20B
showed the best edible coating formulation in extending the shelf-life of sapodilla.

Keywords  Chitosan · Beeswax · Edible coating · Shelf-life · Sapodilla (Achras zapota)

Introduction If harvested at an appropriate maturity stage, it will ripen

Sapodilla (Achras zapota) is a tropical fruit that appears as
an edible large fleshy berry [1] which has a very sweet taste
when fully ripen. The fruits can be directly consumed natu-
rally or be used to produce other products such as jams or
juice [2]. Sapodilla contains various beneficial compounds
that exhibit anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antimicro-
bial activities such as saponins, flavonoids, triterpenoids,
polyphenols and myricitrin, thus, making it one of the most
popular fruits to be applied in traditional medicine [3]. It
also shows some anticancer efficacy [4]. Therefore, it has a
great potential to be further marketed and commercialised
throughout the whole world.
However, the main obstacle for sapodilla exports is its
very short life cycle due to its climacteric nature, which
means that it will continue to ripen even after harvest [5].
* Z. A. Nur Hanani
hanani@upm.edu.my
1
Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Food Science
and Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang,
Selangor, Malaysia
2
Department of Food Science, Faculty of Food Science
and Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang,
Selangor, Malaysia
within 5–7 days at ambient temperature. However, if it is
harvested beyond optimum maturity stage, the postharvest
life cycle of the fruit becomes shorter due to rapid dete-
rioration causing sapodilla to be more perishable and sus-
ceptible to fruit rot pathogens, lasting only 2–10 days [6].
Sapodilla is also susceptible to chilling injury which displays
symptoms such as poor taste, flavour and the presence of
dark-brown spots on peel. Therefore, a special postharvest
handling method and technology is needed to extend the
shelf-life of the fruit and to prevent extended fruit wastage
and losses at the same time.
The application of edible coating is seen as a viable
method in extending the shelf-life and maintaining the
postharvest quality of sapodilla. It can also act as a carrier
for various functional compounds such as nutrients, antioxi-
dants and antimicrobials [7]. Antimicrobial compounds help
in improving the shelf-life of food products by inhibiting
bacterial growth, thus preventing food spoilage.
Chitosan is derived through the deacetylation of chitin,
which is widely available in the exoskeleton of crustaceans,
insects or fungal cell wall [8, 9]. Chitosan is soluble in aque-
ous acidic media and able to form films [10]. It is widely
applied as one of the components in edible coatings due
to its good mechanical properties along with its capability
to act as a physical barrier in reducing gasses permeability

13
Vol.:(0123456789)

[11]. Furthermore, it also demonstrates antimicrobial and
antifungal properties due to the presence of its positively
charged amino group which can interact with the microbial
cell walls that are negatively charged in nature. However,
the drawback of using chitosan as coatings is that it has a
high permeability to water vapour which can cause rapid
deterioration of fruit especially in a moist environment [9].
This disadvantage can, however, be overcome by mixing
it with wax which has high hydrophobicity, thus improv-
ing the moisture barrier property of the edible films [12].
This resistance towards water is due to the absence of polar
constituents which prevents it from interacting with water
or spreading on the surface [13]. This, in turn, will help to
reduce microbial attack as the environment is not favour-
able for their growth and development. It is also capable of
improving the shelf-life of fruits by reducing surface abra-
sion, while at the same time controlling the formation of
browning on fruit by providing mechanical integrity and
regulating the composition of internal gas [14].
Therefore, the aim of this work was to investigate the
effect of chitosan and beeswax edible coatings on the shelf-
life extension of sapodilla.
Materials and Methods
Materials
Sapodilla was collected from the Agriculture Park, Uni-
versiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). The determination of fruit
maturity was conducted by observing fruit’s colour, the
total number of dripping latex, fruit’s loose needle ends
and physical observation to determine if fruit is damaged
or infected by pathogens. The harvesting process was done
by cutting the fruits, while still attached to its pedicels by
a cutter. Next, the fruits were properly cleaned and washed
before being air-dried.
The beeswax was acquired from R&M Chemicals (LGC
Scientific Sdn. Bhd, Selangor, Malaysia) and chitosan was
obtained from Xi’an Lyphar Biotech Co., Ltd, China. Tween
80 and glycerol were obtained from Systerm (Classic Chem-
icals Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia).
Coating preparation
Four different coating formulations were prepared which
include chitosan only (C), chitosan with 10% beeswax
(C + 10B) and chitosan with 20% beeswax (C + 20B). Sapo-
dilla without any coating (WC) was used as a control.
Six grams (1.5%) of chitosan powder was dissolved in
400 ml (1.0%) of acetic acid and stirred overnight using a
magnetic stirrer at 25 °C. 0.6 g (0.15%) of glycerol along
with 0.6 g (0.15%) of Tween-80 was added in the chitosan
13
Journal of Packaging Technology and Research
solution before being centrifuged at 12,000 rpm at a tem-
perature of 5 °C for 30 min (Eppendorf, Centrifuge 5810R,
Fisher Scientific, UK).
The chitosan solution was then heated until it reached
70 °C before being added with 60 g (15%) of beeswax and
homogenised for 5 min to ensure complete homogeneity.
The application of coating solution on sapodilla
fruits
The sapodilla fruit was dipped at 25 °C for chitosan solu-
tion and 70 °C for chitosan–beeswax solution for 15 s and
air-dried for 10 min. It was further dipped for another 15 s
and air-dried until the second layer was completely dried.
Next, the coated fruits were packed in sterile aluminium-
wrapped egg cartons which were then kept in fruit boxes at
a temperature of 25 ± 2 °C and relative humidity of 70–75%
for 17 days. The data on days 0, 3, 7, 10, 14 and 17 for all
analysis were recorded.
Physiochemical Analysis
Weight Loss (%)
Weight loss of the fruit was expressed as percentage of fruit
weight decrease by applying the following formula:
Weight loss (%) = [(Wi − Wf ) ∕Wi ]100,
where Wi was the initial weight of the fruits before storage
and Wf was the final weight of the fruit after the indicated
storage period [15].
Fruit Firmness
The analysis was conducted by a TA-XT2 Texture Analyser
(Stable Micro Systems Ltd., England, UK) with the P/2
(2 mm in diameter cylinder steel probe). The firmness was
obtained by recording the area beneath the force time curve
with the test speed fixed at 2 mm s−1 while the distance of
penetration was kept at 5 mm. There were four replicates
for each sample and the results were expressed as Newton.
pH, Titratable Acidity (TA) and Total Soluble Solids (TSS)
Ten grams of sapodilla flesh was mixed with 50 ml of dis-
tilled water and homogenised using a Tefal Blendforce Maxi
Glass blender (Groupe SEB UK Ltd., Berkshire, UK). A
muslin cloth was then used to filter the homogenate into 100-
ml volumetric flask. The pH and total soluble solids (TSS)
were determined by 20 ml of the homogenate and measured
with Jenway 3510 pH-metre (Cole-Parmer Ltd., Stafford-
shire, UK) and Master-M 2313 hand-held refractometer,
0°–33° Brix (Atago Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan), respectively.
Journal of Packaging Technology and Research

Another 50-ml homogenate was dispensed into a conical Statistical Analysis

flask and then added with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) until
it reached the end point. The analysis was carried out in The data were statistically analysed using the Minitab statis-
triplicate. The titratable acidity (TA) was calculated by the tical analysis software version 17 (Minitab Inc., State Col-
following formula and it is defined as the percentage of citric lege, PA, USA). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey’s
acid (%): multiple comparison tests were performed to compare the
titrate (ml) × base concentration (M) × miliequivalent acid × 100
citric acid % = .
sample weight (g)

Colour differences between the means of all formulations and days

The colour parameters, L*(Lightness), a*(green–red chro-
maticity) and b* (yellow–blue chromaticity) values were
determined. The analysis was performed by a Chroma Meter
CR-410 colorimeter (Konica Minolta, Inc., Osaka, Japan).
A standard white tile (Y = 87.1, x = 0.3174, y = 0.3340) was
used to calibrate the machine before used. The measure-
ments were taken as the mean of triplicates.
Microbiological Analysis (Total Plate Count)
The Plate Count Agar was prepared by dissolving the plate
count agar powder into distilled water in batches every week,
for 6 consecutive weeks to maintain the freshness of agar.
Twenty-five grams of the sapodilla’s flesh was inserted into
sterile stomacher bags before being added with 225 ml of
0.1% peptone water and homogenised in BagMixer 400-P
(InterScience, St Nom la Bretèche, France) for 2 min. Serial
dilutions of the samples were prepared and 100 µL of each
sample was spread on Plate Count Agar plates by a sterilised
hockey stick. The microbial analysis was conducted in dupli-
cate and for every dilution and expressed as l­ og10 CFU g−1,
in which the plates were incubated for 24 h at 37 °C.
at 95% confidence level.
Results and Discussion
Physiochemical Analysis
Weight Loss
Weight loss is one of the main parameters that indicates the
freshness of the fruits. Respiration and moisture evaporation
through the skin of the fruit were the main causes of this
phenomenon [16]. It can be observed that the percentage
of weight loss increased significantly (p ≤ 0.05) throughout
17 days of storage (Table 1). WC sample showed the highest
weight loss, reaching up to 21.13% of the total weight at the
10th day of the storage time. The analysis was then stopped
to prevent any cross-contamination between samples as the
fruits were beyond edible and begin to rot. In contrast, other
coated samples presented significant (p ≤ 0.05) lower weight
loss when compared to the WC with C + 20B exhibiting the
least weight loss.

Table 1  Weight loss (%) of Days WC C C + 10B C + 20B

uncoated and coated sapodilla
Weight loss (%) 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
3 6.18 ± 0.32aC 4.93 ± 0.72abD 3.99 ± 0.57bE 2.24 ± 0.64cD
7 16.12 ± 0.48aB 11.82 ± 0.60bC 11.34 ± 0.50bcD 10.41 ± 0.22cC
10 21.13 ± 0.80aA 12.99 ± 0.30bC 13.68 ± 0.75bC 14.24 ± 0.24bB
14 – 20.42 ± 0.75bB 23.52 ± 0.23aB 24.34 ± 0.31aA
17 – 32.92 ± 0.81aA 26.04 ± 0.38bA 24.72 ± 0.49bA
Firmness (Newton) 0 6.68 ± 0.50bA 7.36 ± 0.16abA 7.27 ± 0.20abA 7.48 ± 0.22aA
3 4.77 ± 0.42bB 5.16 ± 0.16bB 6.74 ± 0.44aAB 7.17 ± 0.34aAB
7 3.91 ± 0.87cB 5.24 ± 0.25bB 6.79 ± 0.17abABC 6.14 ± 0.06aABC
10 1.03 ± 0.34bC 4.90 ± 0.10aB 5.25 ± 0.76aBCD 6.89 ± 0.36aBCD
14 – 3.52 ± 0.39bC 4.81 ± 0.85abCD 5.64 ± 0.30aCD
17 – 2.49 ± 0.40bD 3.77 ± 0.74abD 5.09 ± 0.89aD

*Small letter alphabets indicate comparisons horizontally between formulations, while capital letter alpha-
bets indicate comparisons vertically between days

13
 Journal of Packaging Technology and Research

It is important to study the weight loss of fruits as it
reflects economic loss [17]. The main factor of fruits weight
loss is due to water evaporation from the fruit to the environ-
ment. The results obtained from this study can be explained
through the protective function exhibited by both chitosan
and beeswax. The presence of chitosan coating produces a
barrier which coats the stomata of the fruit, thus, reducing
the rate of transpiration and respiration on the surface of the
fruit. This was further enhanced with the addition of bees-
wax which improved the protective function of the coating.
A study by Assis and Pessoa [18] revealed that sliced fruits
coated with chitosan coating showed the lowest weight loss.
Gunaydin et al. [19] also observed similar results in plums
coated with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose–beeswax coat-
ing which had significant improvement in terms of weight
loss reduction if compared to uncoated samples.
Firmness
Firmness is another important indicator of the fruits fresh-
ness. Rapid softening is determined if the fruit’s surface
requires a low amount of force (Newton) in order for it
to be punctured or deformed. The results are presented in
Table 1 in which it can be observed that there were sig-
nificant (p ≤ 0.05) decreases in sapodilla’s firmness for all
samples throughout the storage time. This softening process
occurred due to the metabolism of cell-wall carbohydrates,
causing hemicelluloses depolymerisation and the reduction
in the total water-soluble pectin, which will result to loss of
firmness of the fruits [20]. The changes in the firmness may
also occur due to increasing loss of water and the attack of
pathogens, leading to cell wall degradation and loss of tissue
senescence [21].
The difference in firmness between WC and C + 10B and
C + 20B was significant (p ≤ 0.05) from the initial storage
time until the end, while WC and C showed a significant
(p ≤ 0.05) difference in firmness only after the 7th day. The
highest firmness was observed in C + 20B which showed
a significant (p ≤ 0.05) difference if compared to both WC
and C. The texture analysis for WC was not continued from
day 10 as the fruit itself was too soft and watery to be ana-
lysed. The results indicate that while the addition of chitosan
coating which contains antimicrobial properties provides a
protective barrier against fruit softening, the combined effect
of both chitosan and wax actually provides a better protec-
tion by also resisting water permeation that increases the
rate of fruit ripening [22] and stimulate microbial growth.
Therefore, the presence of chitosan with beeswax coatings
on fruits improves their firmness by reducing the respira-
tion rates which delay fruit ripening and thus, preventing
the breakdown of these compounds.
pH, Titratable Acidity (TA) and Total Soluble Solid (TSS)
Table 2 shows the value of pH, titratable acidity (TA) and
total soluble solids (TSS) during the 17 days of storage. The
pH of sapodilla increased significantly (p ≤ 0.05) through-
out the whole 17 days of storage for all formulations. The

Table 2  pH, titratable acidity Days WC C C + 10B C + 20B

and total soluble solids of
uncoated and coated sapodilla pH 0 5.26 ± 0.04aC 5.22 ± 0.05aD 5.18 ± 0.03aD 5.19 ± 0.07aD
3 5.58 ± 0.07aB 5.47 ± 0.08abC 5.51 ± 0.09aC 5.30 ± 0.06bD
7 5.69 ± 0.06aAB 5.58 ± 0.08abC 5.66 ± 0.03abB 5.55 ± 0.05bC
10 5.80 ± 0.09aA 5.76 ± 0.04aB 5.80 ± 0.05aAB 5.69 ± 0.06aBC
14 – 5.89 ± 0.04aB 5.71 ± 0.08bB 5.77 ± 0.08abAB
17 – 6.05 ± 0.05aA 5.88 ± 0.03bA 5.94 ± 0.07abA
Titratable acidity 0 0.12 ± 0.01aA 0.13 ± 0.01aA 0.12 ± 0.01aA 0.13 ± 0.01aA
3 0.10 ± 0.01aB 0.11 ± 0.02aAB 0.10 ± 0.02aAB 0.11 ± 0.01aAB
7 0.08 ± 0.01aBC 0.09 ± 0.03aABC 0.09 ± 0.01aABC 0.10 ± 0.01aABC
10 0.07 ± 0.01aC 0.08 ± 0.01aBC 0.09 ± 0.02aABC 0.08 ± 0.01aBC
14 – 0.06 ± 0.01aC 0.07 ± 0.02aBC 0.07 ± 0.02aBC
17 – 0.05 ± 0.01aC 0.06 ± 0.01aC 0.07 ± 0.01aC
Total soluble solids (°Brix) 0 13.00 ± 0.50aD 10.00 ± 0.58bcE 12.00 ± 0.50abE 10.00 ± 0.58cE
3 15.00 ± 0.58aC 14.00 ± 0.58abD 14.00 ± 0.23bD 12.00 ± 0.58cD
7 17.00 ± 0.58aB 15.00 ± 0.58bD 14.00 ± 0.58bcD 14.00 ± 0.50cC
10 22.00 ± 0.50aA 18.00 ± 0.76bC 18.00 ± 0.58bcC 16.00 ± 0.58cB
14 – 20.00 ± 0.29aB 19.00 ± 0.58aB 18.00 ± 0.50bB
17 – 23.00 ± 0.58aA 24.00 ± 0.76bA 22.00 ± 0.58cA

*Small letter alphabets indicate comparisons horizontally between formulations, while capital letter alpha-
bets indicate comparisons vertically between days

13
Journal of Packaging Technology and Research

results obtained correspond to the value of titratable acidity
(TA) obtained from the study in which the value continued
to decrease significantly (p ≤ 0.05) with the time of storage.
In contrast, the total soluble solid content of sapodilla for
each coating formulation increased significantly (p ≤ 0.05)
throughout the storage time. Sapodilla is a climacteric fruit
which means that it will continue to ripen even after har-
vesting. The differences for each day were mainly due to
the ripening process of the fruit which were influenced by
respiration rate. Ingle et al. [23] found similar results in
which they observed a reduction in the titratable acidity of
sapodilla as the fruit continued to ripen due to the utilisation
of these acidic compounds such as citric acid, as one of the
main respiratory substrates. The increase in TSS can also
be linked with the increase in respiration rate and metabolic
activities which involve the synthesis and use of metabolites,
for example, starch breakdown into simple sugars [24].
However, the pH and TA values between formulations
were not significantly (p > 0.05) different, showing that
only minimal effect was exerted by coating formulations of
sapodilla fruits. However, it can still be observed that the
decrease in TA level was slower in coated samples if com-
pared to uncoated sample. In contrast, there was a signifi-
cant (p ≤ 0.05) difference in the TSS value between uncoated
samples with other coated samples in which the lowest TSS
value was observed in C + 20B, ranging from 10.0°Brix to
22.0°Brix. The result was in agreement with the study con-
ducted by Velickova et al. [21] who observed the lowest
reducing sugar concentration in strawberries coated with
chitosan films incorporated with beeswax. Similarly, Ali
et al. [24] also reported lower TSS and slower decrease in
TA in papaya fruits coated with higher concentration of chi-
tosan films. Therefore, the results from our study indicated
that the chitosan–beeswax coating was capable in providing
a semi-permeable barrier which reduced oxygen permea-
tion while at the same time increasing the carbon dioxide
level. This will suppress ethylene production, thus lowering
respiration rate and slowing down ripening process [24, 25].
Colour Analysis
Fruits can develop undesirable colour when exposed to vis-
ible light as the phenolic compounds and carotenoids react
with the oxidative enzymes [22]. Therefore, colour analysis
was conducted to see if there were any colour changes in the
fruit throughout the storage time.
The results obtained are presented in Table 3. It can be
observed that all samples showed significant (p ≤ 0.05)
reduction in the L* values and increment in the a* and b*
values with increasing storage time. This indicated that
the colour of the outer peel of the fruit became darker and
changes towards red and yellow hues. Similarly, Rohani and
Halijah [26] also reported a significant (p ≤ 0.05) decrease
in the L* value and increase in the a* and b* values as the
sapodilla became more mature and had darker colour. The
decrease in L* value may also reflect the development of tis-
sue browning [27]. Tissue browning may be due to increas-
ing respiration rate and other enzymatic reactions, along

Table 3  Lightness (L*), green– Days WC C C + 10B C + 20B

red chromaticity (a*) and
yellow–blue chromaticity (b*) L* 0 46.86 ± 0.05bA 46.33 ± 1.58bA 47.56 ± 0.69bA 51.70 ± 0.43aA
values of uncoated and coated
3 43.32 ± 0.24cB 45.18 ± 0.75bAB 46.18 ± 0.75bAB 49.22 ± 0.91aAB
sapodilla
7 41.04 ± 0.05cC 42.62 ± 1.48bcBC 45.13 ± 1.09abBC 47.64 ± 1.41aBC
10 37.89 ± 0.82cD 40.74 ± 1.11bcC 43.18 ± 0.74abC 45.17 ± 1.64aCD
14 – 37.28 ± 0.46cD 38.96 ± 0.68bD 43.42 ± 0.78aD
17 – 32.23 ± 1.01cE 36.28 ± 0.39bE 40.18 ± 0.94aE
a* 0 5.34 ± 0.53abB 4.43 ± 0.37bD 5.79 ± 0.58aD 4.63 ± 0.54abE
3 8.93 ± 0.79aA 7.28 ± 0.35bC 6.95 ± 0.62bD 5.98 ± 0.53bD
7 9.65 ± 0.51aA 8.14 ± 0.88bC 8.75 ± 0.32abC 7.81 ± 0.01bC
10 10.18 ± 0.78abA 10.29 ± 0.38aB 8.78 ± 0.42bcC 8.24 ± 0.55cC
14 – 12.70 ± 1.42aA 11.75 ± 0.71aB 10.41 ± 0.38aB
17 – 13.75 ± 0.43aA 13.79 ± 0.60aA 11.80 ± 0.57bA
b* 0 24.20 ± 0.34aBC 20.98 ± 0.86bD 21.73 ± 0.62bD 21.56 ± 0.41bD
3 23.41 ± 0.40bC 21.15 ± 0.49aD 22.68 ± 0.40aD 23.84 ± 0.67aC
7 25.39 ± 0.88aB 23.89 ± 0.23aC 25.38 ± 0.68aC 24.95 ± 0.94aBC
10 28.28 ± 0.44aA 26.71 ± 0.48bB 27.74 ± 0.35abB 25.63 ± 0.67cB
14 – 27.29 ± 0.37bB 26.85 ± 0.51bB 28.73 ± 0.56aA
17 – 30.15 ± 0.49aA 30.78 ± 0.47aA 29.96 ± 0.52aA

*Small letter alphabets indicate comparisons horizontally between formulations, while capital letter alpha-
bets indicate comparisons vertically between days

13

with loss of moisture of the surface which leads to darker
flesh colour [28].
The differences in L* values between all coated samples
with WC sample were significant (p ≤ 0.05). Similarly, the
a* and b* values in the early stage of storage showed sig-
nificant differences (p ≤ 0.05) between uncoated and other
coated samples but the differences became insignificant
(p > 0.05) towards the end of storage time. Overall, it can
be observed that C + 20B showed the highest L* value and
the lowest a* and b* values if compared to other samples.
The effect of both chitosan and beeswax in the fruit coating
helped in slowing down the ripening and browning process.
Similarly, Padmaja et al. [29] also reported that sapodilla
coated with aloe vera gel showed a more stable L* value
with slower reduction throughout the storage time when
compared to uncoated samples. This is further supported
by Velickova et al. [21], who also observed higher L* value
in strawberries coated with beeswax. Thus, without any
coating, the fruit underwent senescent faster, resulting in
intracellular liquid loss and tissue breakdown.
Microbiological Analysis
Microbiological analysis was conducted to determine
the efficiency of the coatings in successfully preventing
microbial infection. Microbial growth can be influenced by
water, pH, physical structure, oxygen and temperature. The
results are presented in Fig. 1 in which it can be observed
that the total plate count increased significantly (p ≤ 0.05)
with time. This can be due to the changes in the environ-
ment as a result of minimal processing [22]. Furthermore,
sapodilla spoilage may also be related to the increase in pH
Fig. 1  The total plate count
colonies of sapodilla fruit
coated with different coating
formulations on days 0, 3, 7, 10,
14 and 17
Total plate count (log CFU/g)
13
Journal of Packaging Technology and Research
value which occurred due to the formation of nitrogenous
compounds and fungal metabolites [30]. There were also
significant (p ≤ 0.05) differences in the microbial growth
between coated and other uncoated samples in which it
can be observed that the presence of coating helped in
reducing the rate of microbial growth. C + 20B presented
the lowest total plate count, followed by C + 10B and then
C which indicated that higher concentration of beeswax
acted as a better barrier in preventing the growth of micro-
organisms. This is supported by Poverenov et al. [31] who
observed a two- to threefold reduction in microbial decay
on chitosan- and chitosan–gelatin-coated bell peppers if
compared to the uncoated fruit.
Beeswax prevents moisture permeation which greatly
induced bacterial and fungal infection [32]. As for chi-
tosan, it exhibited antimicrobial properties due to the
interaction between the positively charged amino (–NH3)
groups of chitosan and the negatively charged carboxylate
(–COO–) groups on the surface of bacterial cell mem-
branes [33]. Therefore, it causes severe cellular damage to
microorganisms and inhibits polygalacturonase secretion
[34]. Furthermore, El-Ghaouth et al. [35 also reported that
chitosan induces the development of chitinase that cataly-
ses chitin hydrolysis, which is one of the main component
in the cell walls of fungi. C + 10B and C + 20B samples
which incorporated both chitosan and beeswax obtained
a total plate count that were below the permissible limit
which was 5 log CFU  g −1 [36] throughout the storage
time. In contrast, C sample which only included chitosan
exceeded the permissible limit on the 14th day. This fur-
ther confirmed that the combination of both of these com-
pounds was capable of producing a stronger antimicrobial
fruit coating that can extend the shelf-life of sapodilla.
Total plate count (log CFU/g) against days of storage
8
7 aA
6 aAB aA
bBC
aB
5
bcA bA bA
bC
4 aC bA
bA cAB
abD bA
bD
3 aD cBC
bcC bB
2 cC
cC
0
0 3 7 10 14 17
Days
WC C C+10B C+20B
Journal of Packaging Technology and Research
Conclusion
12. Kowalczyk D, Baraniak B (2014) Effect of candelilla wax on func-
Chitosan–beeswax coating has a great potential to be
applied as edible coatings on sapodilla fruits as it can
extend their shelf-life. The addition of beeswax to chitosan
coating formulation managed to reduce microbial infec-
tion and weight loss, while at the same time retaining the
total soluble solids, fruit firmness and skin colour. As the
microbial count for films coated with both beeswax and
chitosan was below the permissible food microbial limits,
it can be said that this coating is able to inhibit the growth
of microorganisms on the fruit surface, thus extending
the normal shelf-life of uncoated sapodilla fruit from 7
up to 17 days. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that
the chitosan–beeswax edible coating is a viable method in
extending the shelf-life of sapodilla fruits which will bring
benefits for their commercialisation in a larger market.
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