Gum arabic based composite edible coating on green chillies

Green chillies were coated with a composite edible coating composed of gum arabic (5%), glycerol (1%), thyme oil (0.5%) and tween 80 (0.05%) to preserve the freshness and quality of green chillies and thus reduce the cost of preservation. In the present work, the chillies were coated with the composite edible coating using the dipping method with three dipping times (1, 3 and 5 min). The physicochemical parameters of the coated and control chillies stored at room temperature (28±2ºC) were evaluated at regular intervals of storage. There was a significant difference (p≤0.05) in the physicochemical properties between the control chillies and coated chillies with 1, 3 and 5 min dipping times. The coated green chillies showed significantly (p≤0.05) lower weight loss, phenolic acid production, capsaicin production and significantly (p≤0.05) higher retention of ascorbic acid, total chlorophyll content, colour, firmness and better organoleptic properties. The composite edible coating of gum arabic and thyme oil with 3 min dipping was effective in preserving the desirable physico-chemical and organoleptic properties of the green chillies up to 12 days, compared to the uncoated chillies that had a shelf life of 6 days at room temperature.