Effect of Gum Arabic Edible Coating Incorporated with African Baobab Pulp Extract on Postharvest Quality of Cold Stored Blueberries

The marketability of blueberries over long distances has been limited because of their highly perishability. To prolong the postharvest shelf life and conserve quality properties of blueberry, various alternatives have been evaluated. We studied the influence of gum arabic (GA) alone or GA enhanced with African baobab (AB) fruit extract on blueberry during cold storage (4 °C) for 21 days. Physico-chemical properties (e.g. pH, color, firmness, and weight loss), microbial decay, antioxidant properties, polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD) activity were investigated. The fruit treated with GA combined AB indicated a significant delay in microbial decay, firmness loss, weight loss, and color change. The treatments on blueberries resulted in better preservation of total phenols and total anthocyanins delayed the increase in total soluble solids as compared to the control. The coatings lowered the activities of PPO and POD enzymes and delayed microbial decay in coated blueberry during 21 days of storage.