Moreover,
differences in the ability of reducing weight loss are
attributed to the different water vapour permeability of the
compounds used in the formulation of the edible coating
(Vargas et al. 2008). These barrier properties also reduce
the selective permeability to O2 and CO2 of the fruit surface leading to an increase in CO2 concentration in the fruit
tissues and a decrease in O2 concentration, which could be
responsible for the reduced respiration rate in the alginatecoated
fruits. Thus, respiration rate, as measured by CO2
production, after different periods of cold plus 2 days at
20 °C was lower in alginate-coated fruits with respect to
control ones, especially with the highest alginate concentration
(Fig. 2a), in agreement with previous reports in
peaches coated with chitosan, methylcellulose or alginate
(Li and Yu 2001; Maftoonazad et al. 2008). However,
during cold storage, respiration rate was very low, between
10 and 15 mg CO2 kg-1 h-1, and no differences were found
among control and coated cherries (data not shown).