DEVELOPMENT OF PACKAGING FOR POMEGRANATE ARILS

Abstract

India is the largest producer of pomegranate and also a ranked exporter. But to fight the fungal decay of the fruits is the main concern. In this study the effect of chitosan coating with cinnamaldehyde essential oil incorporated in PVA film was observed. Also, the arils were initially dip treated with sodium hypochlorite and ascorbic acid. It was found that there was complete growth inhibition due to 100 ppm NaOCl and chitosan with concentration of 10g/L with cinnamaldehyde was able to retard the growth until day 30. There were some off flavor and odor in the samples with packaging of high content of cinnamaldehyde. But the combination of chitosan coating with cinnamaldehyde of concentration 5% of polymer weight was found effective in maintain the balance between sensory and fungal growth.