Chapter 10 Effect of a combined biopolymer coating on the quality of asparagus spears during storage

Abstract

The chapter is devoted to the study of the influence of a biopolymer coat- ing based on sodium alginate and the antioxidant rutin on the quality of as- paragus spears of Prius and Rosalie varieties during storage under refrigerated conditions. The influence of the coating on the preservation of marketable, physiological and organoleptic characteristics of asparagus was considered. It was found that the most pronounced effect was obtained when using a com- bined coating (1% sodium alginate +1% rutin), which combines the barrier proper- ties of the biopolymer and the antioxidant activity of rutin. The use of such a composition allows to extend the shelf life of spears of both varieties by 7 days compared to the control, reduce mass loss by 1.9 times for the Prius variety and by 2.2 times for the Rosalie variety and increase the yield of stan- dard products to 88.14–91.79% depending on the variety, despite the increased storage time. The use of the studied biopolymer made it possible to slow down respiratory metabolism, degradation of chlorophylls and carotenoids and stabilize the organo- leptic characteristics of the product.