The Effect of Peanut Coating with Chitosan and Chitosan Nanoparticles on its Taste Sensory Properties and Growth Inhibition ofAspergillus flavus

Food contamination with fungi and their toxins is a serious public health issue. Peanuts can be exposed to microbial spoilage and adverse changes in their taste sensory properties. Chitosan is one of the biopolymers that is biodegradable and has antimicrobial activity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of peanut coating on chitosan and chitosan nanoparticles on Aspergillus flavus and the taste sensory properties of peanut. Mold counting tests were performed by culture on Saburo dextrose agar medium, culture progress percentage by slide culture and microscopic observation and sensory properties (taste, color and general acceptance) by 5-point hedonic method by 15 evaluators. For this purpose, the experiments were performed on peanuts by covering the levels of 0.5, 1 and 1.5% of chitosan and chitosan nanoparticles and the control sample (7 treatments in total) at room temperature and darkness on days 0, 14, 28 and 42. The effect of type of treatments and storage time on the total count and the rate of progression of Aspergillus flavus and sensory characteristics was significant (P<0.01). But the interaction between treatments and the storage time of the samples were not significantly different. The highest and lowest antimicrobial effects were related to concentrations of 0.5% chitosan and 1.5% chitosan nanoparticles. But the highest sensory score was observed in the control and day zero samples and the lowest score was observed in the samples coated with 1.5% chitosan nanoparticles. The most suitable coating concentration can be 0.5% chitosan and 1% chitosan nanoparticles.