Shelf life extension of bell pepper by application of chitosan nanoparticles containing Heracleum persicum fruit essential oil

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.postharvbio.2020.111313Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Chitosan nanoparticles (CSNPs) were loaded with Heracleum persicum essential oil (HPEO).

  • HPEO-CSNPs’ particle size varied from 40–80 nm.

  • HPEO-CSNPs increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes of sweet bell peppers.

  • HPEO-CSNPs decreased loss of ascorbic acid, firmness, fresh weight and color.

  • HPEO-CSNPs maintained the overall acceptability of bell peppers to 24 days.

Abstract

In the present research, the impregnated filter papers with Heracleum persicum essential oil (HPEO) and HPEO loaded chitosan nanoparticles (HPEO-CSNPs) were put into packages and the effect of HPEO fumigation and controlled release of HPEO from HPEO-CSNPs on color, firmness, weight loss, total phenolic and flavonoid as well as ascorbic acid contents were evaluated. In addition, the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) measured during 30 d of storage at 9 ± 1 °C. The HPEO was encapsulated in chitosan nanoparticles by ionic gelation technique. The synthesized nanocapsules were characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) technique was used for the particle size distribution assay. According to HRTEM, the average size of HPEO-CSNPs were between 40–80 nm. At the end of storage, the lowest changes in color, firmness and weight and the highest contents of phenolic compounds, flavonoids and ascorbic acid were observed in samples packed with HPEO-CSNPs. In addition, the highest activity of SOD, CAT and POD was obtained in bell peppers treated with HPEO-CSNPs at the day 24 of storage, while PPO activity increased throughout storage period, but its activity in control samples was higher than other treatments. The treated fruits with HPEO-CSNPs indicated overall acceptability up to day 24 of storage, while the untreated samples lost their acceptability on day 18. Our results revealed antioxidant activity of the investigated oil and effectiveness its encapsulation to extend sweet bell pepper fruit shelf life.

Introduction

Bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is one of the most important vegetable crops and there is an increasing demand due to its antioxidant compounds such as ascorbic acid, flavonoids, phenolic acids and carotenoids (Deepa et al., 2007; Zhuang et al., 2012). These compounds have protective effect against some forms of cancer, allergies, cardiovascular and neurological diseases (Ornelas-Paz et al., 2013).

Quick deterioration of bell pepper is a matter of grave concern for their consumption in recent years (Manoj et al., 2016). The shelf life of bell pepper is limited by rapid loss of weight during storage, senescence and pathogens (Cheema et al., 2018; González-Saucedo et al., 2019). Today, there has been a growing tendency for foods with low levels of chemicals. Thus, various edible formulations are considered as an environmentally favorable technique to extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables by establish a modified atmosphere (Ali et al., 2015), which results to improving crop quality by reduction in respiration rate and loss of moisture (Chitravathi et al., 2014). In recent years, there is considerable interest to the use of natural and biodegradable compounds such as chitosan (Hosseinnejad and Jafari, 2016). Chitosan-based coatings recognized as an efficacious matrix to entrap bioactive materials such as essential oils, plant extracts and phenolic compounds (Xing et al., 2011; González-Saucedo et al., 2019).

Essential oils are volatile oily liquids which biosynthesize in different parts of plants and have received considerable attention due to their antioxidant and antimicrobial properties (Badawy and Rabea, 2009). Heracleum persicum (Persian hogweed) belong to the Apiaceae family. The fruit of H. persicum is recommended as an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticonvulsant and for treatment of epilepsy (Sayyah et al., 2005; Hajhashemi et al., 2009; Firuzi et al., 2010). Persian hogweed essential oil is fragile volatile compounds, insoluble in water and unstable against oxidation, as direct exposure to light, heat and pressure limits its biological activity. One way to overcome the above mentioned challenges and improve the constancy of bioactive compounds during preservation is application of nanotechnology which is feasible by encapsulation technology (Hosseini et al., 2013).

In the previous literatures, the effect of coating with chitosan or fumigation with essential oils on the postharvest quality of sweet bell pepper (Xing et al., 2011; Mustafa et al., 2014; Ali et al., 2014a; Poverenov et al., 2014; Manoj et al., 2016; González-Saucedo et al., 2019), chili (Ali et al., 2014b) and other horticultural crops (Badawy and Rabea, 2009; Ali, 2012; Salas-Méndeza et al., 2019) has been studied. However, the coating of bell peppers with chitosan nanoparticles containing essential oil may affect the taste quality of fruits due to the direct contact with the essential oil. Therefore, the aim of present research was to evaluate the effects of impregnated filter papers with HPEO and HPEO HPEO-CSNPs into packages on sensory and physicochemical properties of sweet red bell pepper during storage at 9 ± 1 °C for 30 d.

Section snippets

Materials and reagents

Chitosan (190–310 KDa; 85 % degree of deacetylation), sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP), glacial acetic acid, Tween-80, nitro blue tetrazolium (NBT), methionine, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and guaiacol were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich.

Isolation and analysis of essential oil

Fruits of Heracleum persicum were purchased from valid local market. For the isolation of the H. persicum essential oil, air-dried fruits were grounded in fine powder and subjected to hydrodistillation using a Clevenger apparatus for 3 h. The essential oil was

Analysis of the essential oil

The chemical composition of H. persicum oil was analyzed by GC–MS. The main components and their percentage are presented in Table 1, which accounted 91.9 % of the total essential oil. Butanoic acid, hexyl ester (38.2 %), cyclopropane, pentyl- (15.3 %), butanoic acid, 2-methyl-, hexyl ester (7.6 %), propanoic acid, 2-methyl-, hexyl ester (4.6 %), butanoic acid, octyl ester (4.4 %), hexyl caproate (4.3 %), cyclohexane, ethylidene- (4.1 %) and butanoic acid, 2-methyl-, octyl ester (3.4 %) were

Conclusions

In this study, the filter paper impregnated with H. persicum essential oil (HPEO) and H. persicum oil loaded chitosan nanoparticles (HPEO-CSNPs) was placed in polyethylene bags containing red bell peppers and the effect of HPEO fumigation and controlled release of HPEO from HPEO-CSNPs were evaluated on non-enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidants activities of fruit. Based on HRTEM image, HPEO-CSNPs exhibited spherical shape with diameter size of 40–80 nm. According to our results, HPEO was

Authors statement

Asiyeh Taheri: Data collection, Drafting the article

Mahdi Behnamian: Design of the work, Critical revision of the article, Final approval of the version to be published

Sara Dezhsetan: Data analysis and interpretation

Roghayeh Karimirad: Data collection, Drafting the article

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Iran (Grant No. 51-1952). The authors thank the Atavita Co. for providing the bell pepper fruit.

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