Evaluation of Probiotic-Loaded Edible Coating on Postharvest Quality and Decay Control of Strawberry Fruit (cv. ‘Camarosa’)

Strawberries are highly perishable, with a short shelf-life, so it is necessary to use high technologies to prevent post-harvest damage by using edible coating. Consumption of probiotic foods has increased in recent years as a result of consumer concern about healthy food products. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of inulin, gelatin, and the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus in edible coatings on the physicochemical characteristics of strawberry. The current study was carried out using a completely random statistical design, with the probiotic L. rhamnosus and inulin mixed with gelatin base coatings and applied to fresh strawberries. The strawberries were treated with 5% gelatin coatings (G), 5% gelatin + L. rhamnosus probiotic (G-L), and 5% gelatin + L. rhamnosus + 2% inulin (G-L-I) and distilled water (control: C). According to the results, the presence of (G-L-I) improved some physicochemical properties of coated strawberries compared to control samples by reducing the weight loss (WL), decay, and slowing the deterioration rate of vitamin C (41 g/Kg FW), antioxidants (45.4 mmol Trolox/Kg) and phenolic compounds (TPC: 2400 GAE/Kg) during the storage time, whereas (G-L) coating produced the lowest concentration of total soluble solids (TSS), pH, titratable acidity (TA), and firmness. The fruit’s surface decaying rate (10.7%) and WL were reduced by coatings (G-L). These findings demonstrated that probiotic-containing gelatin coating can be used as an alternative to chemical substances to enhance the fruit’s nutritional value compared to the control. It can be concluded that is a novel method to design new functional foods and helps to improve the shelf life of strawberries.