Application of Quince Seed Mucilage Containing Cinnamon Extract as an Edible Coating in Persimmon Fruit Shelf Life

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of cinnamon extract on cinnamon extract on shelf life and quality characteristics of persimmon fruit. In this research, three concentrations of 0.5, 1 and 1.5 percent  for quince seed Mucilageand three concentrations of 0, 35 and 70 percent for cinnamon extract were considered and storage time duration (day) were 0, 7 and 14 to evaluate the physicochemical properties, microbial, aesthetic and storage shelf life of fresh persimmons. Fresh persimmon was coated by immersion method. The treated samples were stored at a temperature of ± 4 ° C with relative humidity of 70% after drying. The response surface methodology (in form of central composite design) was used to optimize the data. Some properties such as dissolved solids content, weight loss, pH of juice, titratable acids, fruit firmness, organoleptic properties and color characteristics of the fruit were investigated. The results showed that the treatment with mucilage and cinnamon extract prevents the loss of fruit weight, decreases the firmness of the fruit and reduces the titratable acidity. Increasing the concentration of cinnamon extract decreases the amount of mold and yeast in the fruit. By increasing the storage time (shelf life) of fruits, the L, a and b  indexes, which indicate brightness, color range (green-red) and (blue-yellow) respectively, decreased. However, the reduction of color indexes in samples containing 35% cinnamon extract was slower and at the same time, the color indices of these samples were higher. The results showed that the use of quince seed mucilage coatings with cinnamon extract retained qualitative properties and reduced the degradation of aesthetic properties of persimmon fruit during storage.