Biovalorization of Fruit Wastes for Development of Biodegradable Antimicrobial Chitosan-Based Coatings for Fruits (Tomatoes and Grapes)

Organic wastes are generated from high consumption of fruits. In this paper, fruit residual wastes collected from fruit-juice centres were transformed into fine powder, and thereafter, proximate analysis along with SEM, EDX and XRD was done to get into the surface morphology, minerals and ash content of fine powder. Aqueous extract (AE) prepared from this powder was studied using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). The phytochemicals identified are N-hexadecanoic acid; 1,3-dioxane,2,4-dimethyl-, diglycerol, 4-ethyl-2-hydroxycyclopent-2-en-1-one, eicosanoic acid, etc. AE showed high antioxidant and a low MIC value (2 mg/ml) against Pseudomonas aeruginosa MZ269380. AE having acceptance as nontoxic to biological system, formulation of chitosan (2%)-based coating was done with 1% AQ. Surface coatings of tomatoes and grapes showed significant inhibition of microbial growth even after 10 days of storage at ambient temperature (25 ± 2 °C). Colour, texture, firmness and aceptability of coated fruits showed no degradation compared to negative control. Additionally, the extracts showed insignificance haemolysis of goat RBC and damage of Calf Thymus DNA which exhibited its biocompatible nature. Biovalorization of fruit wastes yields useful phytochemicals and can be utilized in various sectors thereby finding a sustainable solution for disposal of fruit wastes.