Application of pregelatinized corn starch and basil essential oil edible coating with cellulose nanofiber as Pickering emulsion agent to prevent quality-quantity loss of mandarin orange

Edible coating solutions consisting of pregelatinized cornstarch (PCS), basil essential oil (BEO), and cellulose nanofibers (CNF) were prepared by a Pickering emulsion method and the properties of the solutions (viscosity, pH, emulsion stability, oil droplets) and edible film (moisture content, contact angle, thermal properties, surface microscopy) were determined. As an application, mandarin orange was coated with these solutions by the dipping method and the quality parameters (weight loss, surface color, citric acid, tartaric acid, ascorbic acid, pH) were measured during storage at room temperature for 12 days. The formulations of the pregelatinized corn starch were 4 % and 5 %, those of the basil essential oil were 2 % and 3 %, and that of the cellulose nanofiber was 0.5 %. The results of this study showed that the combination of pregelatinized corn starch and basil essential oil had a possibility to be further developed to maintain the fruit quality of mandarin oranges. In particular, the BEO3PCS4 and BEO3PCS5 treatments were promising to prolong the shelf life of the mandarin oranges, with the weight loss of the coated fruits were 19.81 % and 20.11 % respectively, compared to 24.41 % for the control. As for quality preservation, the color L* of the fruit surface, especially on the last day of storage, was 54.78 % (BEO3PCS4) and 56.73 % (BEO3PCS5), higher than 53.01 % in the control.