Preservation of strawberries using chitosan incorporated with lemongrass essential oil: An X-ray computed tomography analysis of the internal structure and quality parameters

The effects of two different edible coatings, chitosan (CH) and chitosan-loaded lemongrass essential oil (CH + LMO), on the quality parameters of strawberries, were investigated over a 24-d storage period at temperature of 2 °C. The coatings effectively reduced fruit weight loss, retained moisture content, total soluble solids (TSS), firmness, color, and delayed pH changes of strawberries. X-ray computed tomography (CT) technique was used to monitor the changes in the internal structures of strawberries during storage. Tissue degradation was slower in the coated strawberries than uncoated strawberries (control). The accuracy of predicting moisture content, TSS content, pH, and firmness was higher than the accuracy of predicting weight loss of strawberries. The CH coating exhibits better preservation than the CH + LMO coatings in several quality parameters. The CH and CH + LMO coatings effectively may extend the shelf life and controlled the quality characteristics of strawberries. The combination of the X-ray CT technique and the partial least squares (PLS) model can be effectively used to analyze and monitor fruit quality.