Effect of plant essential oils and mucilages on postharvest quality of strawberry fruit (Fragaria x ananassa.cv Parus)

After harvesting, strawberry fruit is sensitive and susceptible to pathogens due to its bitterness, soft texture, high water content, and therefore has a short storage life. This study was designed and implemented in order to investigate the effect of mucilage edible coatings and plant essential oils to increase the storage life and maintain the quality of digital Paros strawberries during 12 days of storage in a warehouse with a temperature of 4 degrees Celsius and a relative humidity of 75±5%. The effect of essential oils of thyme (Thymus vulgaris), ajowan (Trachyspermum ammi L.) and mucilage of psyllium (Plantago ovata L.) and flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) and their combination with each other were used to coat strawberry fruit. Factorial experiment in the form of completely randomized design and parameters such as percentage of decay, firmness of fruit tissue, ascorbic acid, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA) and acidity (pH) of fruit juice 4, 8 and 12 days It was measured after storage. Based on the results, with the progress of storage time, there was a decrease in parameters such as vitamin C, TA, tissue firmness and anthocyanin, and an increase in the decay percentage and pH of fruit juice. In general, mucilage and essential oil coating treatments alone or in combination with each other are suitable for the storage and after harvesting of Paros variety strawberries. The combined treatment of psyllium along with essential oils of thyme and ajowan having the greatest effect on the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of strawberry fruits is introduced as the best treatments in this research.