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Selected Quality Characteristics of Fresh‐Cut Sweet Potatoes Coated with Chitosan during 17‐Day Refrigerated Storage
Author(s) -
WaimaleongoraEk P.,
Corredor A.J.H.,
No H.K.,
Prinyawiwatkul W.,
King J.M.,
Janes M.E.,
Sathivel S.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of food science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1750-3841
pISSN - 0022-1147
DOI - 10.1111/j.1750-3841.2008.00921.x
Subject(s) - chitosan , lightness , chemistry , food science , yeast , mold , botany , biology , biochemistry , physics , optics
Selected quality characteristics of fresh‐cut sweet potatoes (FCSP) coated with chitosan were evaluated during 17‐d refrigerated storage. The FCSP cubes were coated with a solution (1%, w/v) of chitosan having 470 or 1110 kDa. Color ( L *, a *, b *) values of uncoated and chitosan‐coated FCSP during storage were generally affected by storage time as well as coating treatments ( P < 0.05). No significant changes in color lightness ( L *) of 470 kDa‐coated FCSP were observed during the 17‐d storage. During days 3 to 17, 470 kDa‐coated FCSP had significantly higher redness ( a *) and yellowness ( b *) values than did uncoated and 1110 kDa‐coated FCSP. Texture firmness of uncoated and chitosan‐coated FCSP exhibited minimal changes during the 17‐d storage. Although actual weight loss values (%) of uncoated and chitosan‐coated FCSP were not significantly different at day 17, the weight loss difference (%) between day 3 and day 17 for uncoated FCSP (3.02%) was slightly higher compared to those (2.24% to 2.26%) of chitosan‐coated FCSP. The initial total aerobic count was 4.7 log 10 CFU/g which then gradually increased to 8.54 and 9.67 log 10 CFU/g after 17 d of storage for 470 kDa‐coated and uncoated FCSP, respectively. After day 6, the total aerobic counts of uncoated FCSP were higher than those of 470 kDa‐coated FCSP. The yeast and mold count of chitosan‐coated FCSP was about 2.5 log 10 CFU/g at day 17. Overall, consumers could not differentiate between 470 kDa‐coated FCSP at day 17 and uncoated FCSP at day 0.