4. Conclusion
The developed carnauba wax emulsion coating showed good commercial attributes such as glossiness, early drying nature and
reduced physiological weight loss. Effectiveness of additives such as
PEG, SA and SDS in CW emulsion coating could extent shelf life and
enhanced antioxidant activity of packaged eggplants at maximum
storage period during ambient temperature. Reduced Firmness,
moisture, lightness as well as lower PLW were observed in PEG and
SA based CW coated eggplants in packaged condition showed
enhancement of storage capability of those eggplants. TPC and
antioxidants activity showed no definite pattern during storage
upto 12 days. However, maximum TPC and antioxidant activity
were retained in PEG and SA based CW treated packaged eggplants
during storage for 12 days, indicating more nutrition and antioxidant activity with a positive correlation. This treatment can ideally
be adopted for enhancing storage life of highly perishable vegetables like eggplant to restrict use of unhygienic practices by the
farmers and traders. Further, much more work may be carried out
to investigate antimicrobial and antifungal properties of this CW
coated eggplants with effectiveness on long storage stability,
retention and activeness of other useful physiochemical and
bioactive compounds