Edible coatings have been used in the fresh-cut industry as a strategy to reduce the deleterious effects of minimal
processing on plant tissues. The objective of this study was to apply edible coatings from protein isolate of
Whitemouth croaker with organo-clay montmorillonite in minimally processed papaya slices, throughout the
storage of 12 days at 5 °C, and assess their properties and verify the effectiveness of this coating as a barrier
against theweight loss of papaya, aiming to increase its shelf-life. The different coatings appliedwith andwithout
montmorillonite in minimally processed papaya were effective during the 12 days of storage. The croaker protein
isolate (CPI) and montmorillonite (MMT) coating applied to minimally processed papaya showed lower mass
loss (5.26%), lower microbial growth and a smaller decrease of firmness, lightness and pH, and therefore showed
the best results in coating of minimally processed papaya.
Industrial relevance: Papaya is verymuch appreciated in its minimally processed, but this type of processing causes
injuries so that its shelf-life is reduced. This perishability of papaya needs a good preservation strategy. The present
results demonstrated the feasibility of using edible coatings on the basis of fish protein isolate and organo-clay
nanocomposite, with low cost and high shelf-life compared to the control sample. The study further confirms
that the viability of fish protein of low value for the industries becomes a great potential to increase the shelflife
of minimally processed papaya, without changing the characteristics in relation to odor and appearance of
minimally processed fruit.