EDIBLE COMPOSITE COATING OF METHYL CELLULOSE FOR POST-HARVEST EXTENSION OF SHELF-LIFE OF FINGER HOT INDIAN PEPPER (PUSA JWALA)

Chillies of Pusa jwala variety were coated with composite coating formulation made up of methyl cellulose (MC) and oleic acid (OA) to evaluate the effectiveness of edible coating in extending the shelf-life of chillies. Edible coating showed good stability, transparency and glossiness when applied on chilli fruit. The coatings when applied on green chillies resulted in restriction in metabolic activities and delayed senescence. MC-based coating was found to reduce physiological weight loss, textural softening and development of red pigment in the fruit peel. Coated fruit synthesized phenolic compound slower than uncoated fruit bringing about slow changes in capsaicin content as well. MC-OA based coating could extend the shelf-life of green chillies to 8 days under ambient storage conditions (241C, RH 70 +/- 5%) against the 5-day shelf-life of uncoated ones.