Matured fresh green chillies (C. annuum L.) of uniform
size were procured from the local market of Mysore, India.
The chillies were sorted for absence of defects, washed
with tap water followed by washing with sodium hypochlorite
solution (100 mg/kg) for 10 min to reduce the
microbial load and then surface dried at room temperature.
The surface sanitized chillies were divided into four blocks,
the first block is control (uncoated and unpacked), second
block is shellac coated. The shellac coatings were prepared
by dissolving dewaxed and bleached shellac (5 %) in
alkaline aqueous medium (0.6 % ammonia) at 95 C. To
this, PVA (binding and coating agent) (3 %) previously
dissolved in hot water was added along with triethanolamine
(surfactant) (1 %) and 0.1 % oleic acid (lubricant,
binder and defoaming agent). The composite was
mixed thoroughly and slowly brought down to room temperature
followed by the addition of 0.5 % tween 80
(emulsifier). Sodium alginate (0.5 %) was incorporated and
the emulsion was homogenized (Virtis homogenizer, Gardiner,
New York) at a high-speed of 3000 rpm for 5 min.
The coatings were applied by dipping the chillies in the
coating solution for 5 min and then surface dried in the
stream of dehumidified air.
The third block of chillies