Effects of an Edible Coating and Cold Storage on Shelf-life and Quality of Cherries

The effects of an edible coating, i.e. Semperfresh^TM and cold storage on shelf-life and quality of cherries were studied. Two groups of cherries (Prunus avium) were coated just after harvest with 10 and 20 g/L Semperfresh^TM fruit coating which is composed of sucrose esters of fatty acids, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose and mono-diglycerides of fatty acids. Half of the cherries from each of the above groups was stored at ambient temperature (∼30±3 °C) and at 40-50% relative humidity, the other half of the cherries was stored at cold storage (0 °C) and at 95-98% relative humidity. Each group was analysed for the following quality parameters: firmness, weight loss, titratable acidity, soluble solid content, sugar content, ascorbic acid content, and external color. It was demonstrated that Semperfresh^TM was effective to reduce the weight loss and increase firmness, ascorbic acid content, titratable acidity and skin color of cherries during storage time. However, soluble solid content and sugar content were not affected by coating. The results of this study suggest that Semperfresh^TM increased the shelf-life of the cherries by 21% at 30±3 °C and by 26% at 0 °C without perceptible losses in quality.