Empleo de recubrimientos comestibles en la conservación de Fragaria xananassa (Fresa)

Abstract

At Animal Science Faculty of Escuela Superior Politecnica de Chimborazo, three gel, pectin, and bee wax edible coating were evaluated under a control treatment for conserving Oso Grande strawberry after the harvest at an environment and cooling temperature with three repetitions under a bi factorial completely randomized design, the results were put under the variance analysis and media separation according to TUKEY (p<0,05). It was established that the use of edible coating affected statistically in the physical, chemical and microbiological characteristics of the strawberry, so it was concluded that gel coating show better characteristics with less loss of weight (5,26 %) and a firmness of (9,92N), soluble solids (7,49%), pH (3.69), acidity (0.73%), aerobic mesophilic inhibition (38 UFC/ml), molds and yeasts (45UFC/ml) and a life time of 5 days. The production cost for obtaining the gel coating was the cheapest with ($11,10/Kg). The results obtained show the efficiency of the edible coating for extending the life time of the strawberry conserving its physical-chemical and microbiological characteristics.