Layer-by-Layer Electrostatic Deposition of Edible Coatings for Enhancing the Storage Stability of Fresh-Cut Lotus Root (Nelumbo nucifera)

Abstract

Various strategies have been employed to improve the storage stability of fresh-cut lotus root, which is prone to undesirable changes such as enzymatic oxidation. In our research, we targeted the formulation of polysaccharide-based edible coatings with different ionic charges from natural gum sources, such as guar gum, xanthan gum, and chitosan, due to the limited information regarding its application as coating material for fresh-cut lotus root. We have also compared the effect of single layer coatings versus layer-by-layer deposition as edible coating techniques for fresh-cut lotus root. Our results have shown that layer-by-layer coatings consisting of xanthan gum and chitosan were the most effective among all treatments, thereby reducing whiteness color (L*) changes and weight loss up to 60% and 86%, respectively. Overall, the layer-by-layer coating technique was more effective than single layer coating, which shows a promising strategy to increase the storage stability of fresh-cut lotus root especially during transport and distribution.

Keywords: Edible coating, Layer-by-layer deposition, Stability, Fresh-cut, Enzymatic browning