Gholamreza Malekshahi; Babak ValizadehKaji
Abstract
Regardless of the low respiration rate in pomegranate fruits, it is a greatly perishable product. An alternative to maintain quality and prolong the shelf life of pomegranate fruits could be edible coatings. In the present study, three different edible coatings including: 1% chitosan, 1000 mg L-1 thymol, ...
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Regardless of the low respiration rate in pomegranate fruits, it is a greatly perishable product. An alternative to maintain quality and prolong the shelf life of pomegranate fruits could be edible coatings. In the present study, three different edible coatings including: 1% chitosan, 1000 mg L-1 thymol, and their combined were investigated on the postharvest quality of pomegranate fruits. Changes in weight loss, fruit firmness, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), juice pH, anthocyanin, total phenolic, and flavonoids content, sensory characteristics and fungal decay incidence of fruits were evaluated during 30, 60, 90 and 120 days storage at 6 °C. The results showed that coated fruits with 1% chitosan + 1000 mg L-1 thymol significantly decreased weight loss and firmness than uncoated fruits. Furthermore, the coated fruits with 1% chitosan + 1000 mg L-1 thymol exhibited significantly higher anthocyanin, total phenolic, flavonoids content, and sensory characteristics than the control treatment. The minimum shelf-life (83.33 days) was observed in uncoated fruits, while the maximum shelf-life (108.33 days) was recorded in fruits coated with 1 % chitosan + 1000 mg L-1 thymol. Duration of storage had a significant effect on weight loss, firmness, juice pH, anthocyanin content, total phenolic content, flavonoids content, sensory characteristics, and decay, whereas there was no significant effect on TSS, TA, and TSS/TA. In conclusion, the combined application of chitosan and thymol can provide a useful alternative for shelf life extension of pomegranate fruits.
Mina Taghizadeh; Mousa Solgi
Abstract
An important part of plant in vitro techniques is the sterilization of explants and the maintenance of aseptic conditions. Ideally, sterilizing materials should be effective on a vast range of microorganisms at low density. Nowadays, the use of compounds such as essential oils (EOs) and nanoparticles ...
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An important part of plant in vitro techniques is the sterilization of explants and the maintenance of aseptic conditions. Ideally, sterilizing materials should be effective on a vast range of microorganisms at low density. Nowadays, the use of compounds such as essential oils (EOs) and nanoparticles is applicable in microbiology studies. The main objective of this experiment was to study the substitution probability of silver nanoparticles (SNPs), thymol and carvacrol as novel sterilization agents in the tissue culture of Cynodon dactylon. Explants were sterilized with 70% ethanol for 2 min, and then 30% Clorox for 15 min. Sterilization complementary treatments (SNPs, thymol and carvacrol) were applied at different concentrations (100 and 200 mg l-1) with exposure times of 30, 60 and 120 min. According to the results, infection of bermudagrass explants was controlled successfully by SNPs, thymol and carvacrol. Examination of various concentrations in different exposure times showed that 200 mg L-1 SNPs in combination with 100 mg L-1 thymol in 60 min inhibited microbial growth. Thymol and carvacrol were more effective than SNPs in controlling bacteria and fungi contaminations. Finally, these novel agents could be used as an alternative to common chemical treatments for elimination and control of microbial population explants in in vitro conditions.
