Application of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) from Pineapple core as edible coating for Grape Tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. 'Santa')

Abstract

About 161 million tons of tomatoes were produced per year in the world in 2012. However, the large amount of this production was lost partly due to a lack of effective facilities during storage. Such a loss can be minimized using an alternative method which applies carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) based edible coating. Pineapple core, which creates waste problem in many countries, is a source of cellulose and can be derived into CMC. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of CMC based coating from 2% pineapple core (CMCpc) and commercial CMC (CMCc) compared to control on weight loss, firmness, total color difference (ΔE), total soluble solid (TSS) and Vitamin C content of grape tomatoes in ambient storage (25oC and 70%). The results showed that in the last day observation, coated grape tomatoes using CMCc and CMCpc had a lower weight loss (14.63 and 24.51%), lower TSS (5.14% and 5.12% Brix) and higher vitamin C content (28.47 and 27.67 mg/100g) than control (24.71% weight loss, 5.6% Brix, and 26.68 mg/100g). However, there was no effect observed in firmness and ΔE of tomatoes with and without coating (p<0.05). These results indicated that CMC coating can delay the moisture loss and ripening process of tomatoes in ambient condition.