APPLICATION OF AN EDIBLE COATING BASED ON ALOE VERA TO IMPROVE GENERAL QUALITY OF MINIMAL PROCESSED POMEGRANATE ARILS

The pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) grown in many countries of the Mediterranean Sea, is usually consumed as fresh seeds (arils). The arils contain around 80% of juice and 20% of seed. The cultivar ‘Wonderful’ is quite appreciated by consumers, containing high concentrations of sugars, organic acids, vitamins, polysaccharides, and essential minerals. However, desiccation and browning result in important quality losses during postharvest storage of pomegranate arils. To prevent moisture loss and suppress desiccation-related browning, we applied an edible coating based on Aloe vera to improve commercial life and general quality of minimally processed arils. Pomegranate arils treated by immersion in a solution containing organic acids (control) and in Aloe vera gel solution after that, all the aril were placed inside plastic packages under cold storage up to 17 days.
Results show, that the edible coating did not affect the natural flavour of pomegranate arils or the internal gas composition (CO₂ and O₂) of the package in comparison with control arils. On the other hand, the application of the edible coating resulted in lower ethylene concentration in the packaging head space and a higher firmness of the arils. A more advanced maturity was seen for control fruit arils in comparison with those which Aloe vera coating was applied. In addition, the edible coating reduced the microbial counts drastically. For these reasons, Aloe vera gel coating could be an effective additional technology to improve the general quality of this product.