Effect of chitosan coating, carbon dots and ultrasound treatment on microorganisms and physicochemical quality of fresh-cut lettuce

The effect of chitosan (CH) coating, carbon dots (CDs) and ultrasound (US) treatment on microorganisms and the physicochemical quality of fresh-cut (FC) lettuce was investigated. FC lettuces were treated by US and dipped into CD/CH coating, then packed and stored for 15 d at 4 °C. Results presented that CD/CH coating exhibited a superior effect on the depressing growth of aerobic plate count, mould and yeast, the decrease of respiratory rate, the inhibition of peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase activities, the maintenance of ascorbic acid and chlorophyll contents, the reduction of mass loss, the restriction of water distribution in US-treated FC lettuce. This exhibited that CD/CH coating effectively kept the microbial and physicochemical quality of FC lettuce.