Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Scientia Horticulturae journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scihorti Efect of using microencapsulated ascorbic acid in coatings based on resistant starch chayotextle on the quality of guava fruit Miguel A. Martínez-Ortiz a , Heidi M. Palma-Rodríguez a , Efgenia Montalvo-González b , Sonia G. Sáyago-Ayerdi b , Rubi Utrilla-Coello c , Apolonio Vargas-Torres a, ⁎ a Instituto de Ciencias Agropecuarias de la Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Av. Universidad km 1, Rancho Universitario, Tulancingo de Bravo, Hidalgo, CP 43600, Mexico b Laboratorio de Integral de Investigación de Alimentos, Instituto Tecnológico de Tepic, Av. Tecnológico 2595, Lagos del Country, Tepic, Nayarit, CP 63175, Mexico c Universidad del Papaloapan, Circuito Central 200, Colonia Parque Industrial, Tuxtepec, Oaxaca, Mexico ARTICLEINFO Keywords: Edible coatings Starch Fruits Resistant starch Microcapsules Shelf life ABSTRACT Filmogenic solutions based on chayotextle (Shechium edule Sw.) starch mixed with microcapsules of resistant starch (RS) containing ascorbic acid (AA) were used as coatings for guavas. The viscosity properties of the coatings were afected by the concentration of microcapsules in the flmogenic solution. Fruits were coated by dipping them in flmogenic solutions without microcapsules (control) or in solutions with a concentration of microcapsules of 6.25% or 12.5%. Fruits were stored under controlled conditions (4 °C, 65% relative humidity), and the loss of weight, changes in the respiration rate (RR) and physicochemical parameters were assessed. In general, fruits coated with the control solution and solutions containing 6.25% and 12.5% microcapsules showed signifcant changes in the content of total soluble solids (TSS), pH, and titratable acidity (TA). Signifcant de- creases in RR, frmness and weight were observed in fruits covered with the 12.5%, 6.25% and control solutions, respectively. Fruits covered with edible coatings showed a decrease in ripening, with lower values for their physicochemical properties and reduced changes in surface color compared with uncoated fruits. 1. Introduction The market for minimally processed fruits (MPF) has grown in re- cent years, and this growth has led to an increase in the number of studies on handling and storage methods aiming to minimize damage to fruits. Furthermore, modern, health-conscious consumers demand sen- sory foods that retain their original nutritive value, texture, and freshness. Preserving these quality parameters poses unique challenges to the food industry because fruits or MPF have an active metabolism that can result in rapid product deterioration if not controlled. Edible flms and coatings have been used in fresh fruits to extend their shelf- life and preserve their quality parameters (McHugh and Senesi, 2000; Chiu and Lai, 2010; Zambrano-Zaragoza et al., 2013; Vargas-Torres et al., 2017). These parameters can be improved by regulating the transfer of moisture, oxygen, carbon dioxide, lipids, aroma, and favor compounds of food products (McHugh and Senesi, 2000). An edible coating is generally defned as a thin layer of edible material covering a food product, while an edible flm is defned as a thin layer of edible material placed on or between food components (Krochta and Mulder- Johnston, 1997). Recently, edible coatings and flms have been used as carriers of antimicrobial agents (Chiu and Lai, 2010; Barzegar et al., 2014), che- mical compounds that reduce enzymatic darkening, (Zambrano- Zaragoza et al., 2014; Vargas-Torres et al., 2017), and prebiotic com- pounds (Meneguin et al., 2014; Martínez-Ortiz et al., 2017). Edible coatings and flms can be made from various materials, such as lipids, proteins, polysaccharides or a combination of these materials. Under certain relative humidity (RH) and temperature conditions, edible coatings based on polysaccharides, such as starch, provide a good barrier against oxygen and carbon dioxide transmission, but a poor barrier against water vapor (Kester and Fennema, 1986). These char- acteristics favor the preservation of quality attributes in fruits and ve- getables because they reduce their RR by limiting their exposure to ambient oxygen and increasing the amount of internal carbon dioxide, which delays the ripening process (Mali and Grossmann, 2003). The use of these edible coatings has been intensively studied because no single edible coating can be used with all types of fresh fruits and vegetables (Dhall, 2013). de Aquino et al. (2015), who studied the use of edible chitosan-cassava starch coatings in guavas (Psidium guajava L), reported a reduction in microbial growth and the content of TSS, which https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2019.108604 Received 13 August 2017; Received in revised form 30 April 2019; Accepted 23 June 2019 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: apolonio@uaeh.edu.mx (A. Vargas-Torres). Scientia Horticulturae 256 (2019) 108604 0304-4238/ © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. T