Wetting behavior of chitosan solutions on blueberry epicarp with or without epicuticular waxes

O. Skurtys, P. Velásquez, O. Henriquez, S. Matiacevich, J. Enrione, F. Osorio

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

41 Scopus citations

Abstract

The physical properties of fresh highbush blueberry epicarp were determined in order to increase the effectiveness of chitosan-based coatings. The measured roughness of the blueberry epicarp was 42 ± 10 μm. The surface free energy, γSV of blueberry epicarp with and without epicuticular wax was calculated using the "acid-base" theory. Blueberry epicarps with or without wax have mainly an apolar (Lifshitz-van der Waals) character with a small polarity (Lewis acid-base). In both cases, blueberry surface is a low-energy surface. With wax γSV = 29.1 ± 0.1 mJ m-2 while after the wax removal, γSV was increased significantly to 38.3 ± 2.8 mJ m-2. Various chitosan-based coatings were applied to the blueberry epicarp. The surface tension, the cohesive energy and the spreading coefficient were calculated for each solution. In particular, the effects of concentration of a plasticizer (glycerol) and a surfactant (Tween 20) on the wetting of blueberry epicarp were studied. A mathematical relationship between concentrations and spreading coefficient S was proposed. Finally, the optimal concentrations of chitosan-based solutions were determined according to S.
Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)1449-1457
Number of pages9
JournalLWT - Food Science and Technology
Volume44
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jul 2011
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Blueberry
  • Coating
  • Surface free energy
  • Wetting

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