Improvement of storage quality of strawberries by pullulan coatings incorporated with cinnamon essential oil nanoemulsion

This study was aimed at evaluating the effect of pullulan coating incorporated with cinnamon essential oil (CEO) nanoemulsion on the shelf life and senescence of fresh strawberries during room storage. Pullulan-CEO nanoemulsion prepared using ultrasound treatment had smaller particle size (162.1 nm) and more uniform distribution of oil droplets. After six days of storage, pullulan-CEO nanoemulsion coating remarkably lowered the loss in fruit mass, firmness, total soluble solids and titratable acidity of strawberries. In addition, pullulan-based nanoemulsion coated strawberries showed the strongest antimicrobial activity against bacteria and molds (2.544 and 1.958 log CFU/g, respectively) compared to control and pure pullulan coating groups. It is mainly due to the antimicrobial activities of CEO dispersed in nano size in pullulan matrix. This study revealed that pullulan-CEO nanoemulsion coating showed great potential to prolong the shelf life of fresh strawberries during room storage.