Pear is one of the most consumed temperate fruits in Brazil; however their conservation is limited due to browning when it suffers injuries or physical treatments. The edibles coating interact with the food positively extending its shelf life. This research aimed to evaluate the action of starch edible coating incorporated with calcium lactate and L-cysteine on enzymatic browning inhibition, on psychrotrophs and enterobacteriaceae growing reduction and on firmness maintenance. The sliced pears were coated with starch edible coating incorporated with L-cysteine and calcium lactate, except control, without coating (C). The treatment were: only coating (T1); 2,0% calcium lactate and 1,0% L-cysteine (T2); 2,0% calcium lactate and 1,5% L-cysteine (T3). The samples were taken at 0, 2, 4 and 6 days. Pears were keeped under refrigeration (7°C±2°C). Pears submitted to treatments T2 and T3 show significantly more firms (P<0,05) compared to treatments C and T1. Cysteine action over enzymatic browning inhibition was observed in treatments T2 and T3 which do not differed significantly each other (P≥0,05) to ∆E values however these were significantly lower than control (C). At time 6, decimal reduction on psychrotrophs counting reached 3,03 and 2,43 to T3 e T2 compared to control. Enterobacteriaceae counting showed similar behavior where the reduction values were 3,16 and 3,05 to T2 e T3 compared to control. It was verified that using the studied edible coating on fresh cut pear can extend its shelf life.
minimally processing; Pyrus communis; quality; edible coating
