Development of Low Molecular Chitosan and Its Silver Nanocomposites for the Edible Fruits Coating to Improve the Shelf Life Period.

Chitosan is a polysaccharide comprising copolymers of glucosamine and N-acetylglucosamine and can be derived by the partial deacetylation of chitin. The present study was concluded that the edible coating affects positively on the physiochemical parameters of tomatoes. The coated sample shows significant difference in almost all parameters as compared to control (uncoated) tomatoes. As far as storage period is concerned as increase the quality parameters like weight loss, pH, and antimicrobial activity of tomatoes and grapes. For this study low molecular chitosan (0.5 %) and synthesized (AgNPs) low molecular weight chitosan were used. The coating of chitosan can modify the internal atmosphere, decrease transpiration, delay ripening fruit while increasing the shelf life of tomatoes and grapes. After applying improved chitosan-based coating, the preserving effects were increased in most of the cases compared with single chitosan coating.