Development of an edible coating based on chitosan-glycerol to delay ‘Berangan’ banana (Musa sapientum cv. Berangan) ripening process

Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the concentrations of chitosan and glycerol for coating Berangan banana (Musa sapientum cv. Berangan). The effects of main edible coating components, chitosan (0.5-2.5%, w/w) and glycerol (0-2%, w/w) on weight loss, firmness, total colour difference, total soluble solids content (TSS) and titratable acidity (TA) of coated banana were studied during 10 days of storage at 26±2°C and 40-50% relative humidity. Results showed that the experimental data could be adequately fitted into a second-order polynomial model with coefficient of determination (R²) ranging from 0.745 to 0.930 for all the variables studied. In general, the chitosan concentration appeared to be the most significant (P 0.1) factor influencing all variables except for TSS. The optimum concentration of chitosan and glycerol were predicted to be 2.02% and 0.18%, respectively. Statistical assessment showed insignificant difference between experimental and predicted values.