Influence of Edible Starch and Sodium Bi-carbonate on Postharvest Quality of Minimally Processed Carrot and Potato

The demand for healthy and ready-to-eat products has been growing steadily over the years. However, these products are very susceptible to spoilage and have a short shelf-life. In this research, edible coatings based on edible starch (aloe vera gel) and NaHCO3 were applied on fresh-cut vegetable samples (carrot and potato), and the changes in their bio-chemical properties and microbial changes were monitored during 6 days of storage at 4ºC. Two factor experiments, Factor A; postharvest treatments (different concentration of aloe gel and NaHCO3) and Factor B; two vegetable species (Carrot and Potato) were laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications. Different concentration of aloe vera gel and NaHCO3 solutions were prepared as per treatment. The prepared slices of vegetable species were treated with different treatment combinations and stored in 200 g capacity polyethylene bags sealed under air, vacuum or modified active atmosphere and then bio-chemically (Titratable Acidity (TA), Ascorbic Acid (AA) content, Total Soluble Solids (TSS), Reducing Sugar (RS), Non-reducing Sugar (NRS), pH) and microbiologically assessed. Higher rate of edible starch (30%) + NaHCO3 (2%) treated potato (CT12) showed the superior performance on TA (1.290), TSS (5.200% Brix), NRS content (0.340) and pH (4.773% Brix) compare to control and other interaction treatments of the study at 6 days after storage while untreated potato (T0) showed statistically lower AA (6.575 mg/25 g) TA (0.464) TSS (3.856), pH (3.827) NRS (0.133). Growth of bacterial colonies on NA media had statistically highest (14.00) in untreated potato and lowest (5.00) in T12 treated potato while fungal colonies on PDA media range of 4.00 to 11 at 6 DAS. The study may help small-scale establishments to increase the shelf-life of minimally processed vegetables.