Increasing shelf life of strawberries (Fragaria ssp) by using a banana starch-chitosan-Aloe vera gel composite edible coating

Strawberries are among the most consumed fruits in the world, however, they are highly susceptible to both microbial and fungal contamination during storage. In this study, we used composite films made from banana starch-chitosan and Aloe vera gel (AV gel) at different AV gel concentrations. Our results show that AV gel inclusion can significantly reduce fungal decay, increasing strawberries shelf life up to 15 day of storage at the highest AV gel concentration (20%), while maintaining their physicochemical properties, such as colour and firmness. Weight loss was reduced 5% with respect of the uncoated fruit. Our results can be attributed to the limited water vapour transfer allowed by the edible coating, this is the result of the crosslinking effect of the different AV gel and starch molecules that allows a more controlled decay of the strawberries in commercial storage conditions.