Antimicrobial activities of flavedo peel extract and its feasibility in the development of bio‐based pectin coating film for fruit preservation

Abstract The pomelo flavedo extract (PFE) from the pomelo peel (an agricultural waste) is well known with many functional properties. In this study, the incorporation of PFE into the bio‐based polymer (pectin) for the formulation of the coating film was generally developed. The PFE showed a very high inhibitory effect against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (9.22 ± 0.37 mm of inhibition zone diameter), whereas Escherichia coli was found to be resistant to the PFE treatment. The incorporation of varying PFE contents into the pectin film with glycerol as a plasticizer for developing PFE‐Gly‐Pectin composite film and its effect on the film performance was investigated. PFE was found to reduce the swelling degree and increase the solubility of the Gly‐Pectin film as well as increase the flexibility of the resulting film. However, the molecular structure, structural morphology, and contact angle of the Gly‐Pectin film were insignificantly affected by the presence of PFE. The composite film at the PFE:Pectin ratio of 3.4 g/g was selected for the preliminary preservation of jackfruit bulbs which was stored at ambient temperature. As a result, coated jackfruit bulbs appeared to maintain a better quality after 3 days with an alleviated change in weight loss, color parameters, and total soluble solids, whereas the uncoated jackfruits showed signs of spoilage on Day 2 of the storage period. Therefore, the PFE conjugated pectin film suggested potential in the preservation of food materials.