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