TSS of control and coated samples during storage are presented
in Fig. 1A. TSS levels at the beginning of storage was 5.3% and
increased gradually during storage in both coated and uncoated
strawberries. During 4 days of storage, uncoated samples exhibited
significantly (P < 0.05) higher TSS i.e. 8.5% compared to all other
coated samples. In control fruit the TSS content declined from 8.5
to 5.7% during 4 days of storage to 8 days, while the fruit coated
with CMC 1% and HPMC 1% showed a gradual increase in their
TSS content up to 8 days of storage and thereafter declined. At the
end of storage (i.e. 12 days), TSS content of CMC 1% and HPMC 1%
coated strawberries declined. These results are in accordance with
the report of Velickova et al. (2013) who showed a decrease in the
TSS content in strawberries at the end of storage and attributed it
to respiration. Among all the coatings, the addition of CH to the
coating formulations had a strong effect in maintaining higher TSS
accumulation at the end of the storage period. These results are
in agreement with those of Malmiri et al. (2011), who concluded
that coatings with cellulose derivatives significantly reduced the
TSS content with respect to the control. These results are also in
line with the results reported by Ali et al. (2011) and Gol and Rao
(2011), who assigned the probable reasons for the reducing levels
of TSS accumulation in the chitosan alone coated fruit to the slowing
down of respiration and metabolic activity, hence retarding the
ripening process.