Associating chitosan and nanoemulsion as a delivery system of essential oil; the potential on quality maintenance of minimally processed produce

Abstract

Plant-derived essential oil (EO) has gained more and more attentions resulted from its antioxidant, antiradical, and antimicrobial properties. The ginger EO delivery system based on chitosan nano-emulsion using ultrasound (US) was constructed and the application on the quality attributes of minimally processed cantaloupe was investigated in this paper. Results demonstrated that emulsions with small particle size and excellent stability were produced under US 60% conditions. The addition of 0.5% EO in emulsions enabled the polysaccharide-based coating to maintain the quality attributes during storage of minimally processed cantaloupe. The antioxidant capacity and vitamin C content in minimally processed cantaloupe were increased by more than 56%; whereas the total soluble solids and the weight loss were declined by 6.4% and 3.7%, respectively. Furthermore, the microbial development (the total bacterial count is 2 log CFU/g, and the yeast and mold count is 2 log CFU/g) were significantly inhibited after 10 days of storage. In summary, the delivery system of EO prepared with chitosan-based emulsion effectively contributed to the quality maintenance and the shelf-life extension of minimally processed cantaloupe.