4. Conclusions
Fresh postharvest green asparagus rapidly deteriorates due to
its high respiration rate. The present work studied the effects
of postharvest green asparagus quality by coating with different
chitosan and stored at 2 ◦C for 35 days. On the basis of the
results including evaluation for texture, lignin increase and losses
of chlorophyll, ascorbic acid and weight loss too, it can be safely
concluded that chitosan coatings could extend the shelf life of
postharvest green asparagus. Basically, 0.25% H-chitosan and 0.50%
L-chitosan treatments ensured lower color variation, weight loss
and ascorbic acid, exhibiting better quality of asparagus compared
with others, and prolonging a shelf life of postharvest green asparagus.
In a word, 0.25% H-chitosan coating could extend the shelf life
of the postharvest green asparagus about 9 days, and it is up to
43% prolongation compared to control from the sensory quality.
Thereby, the present results are useful for further development of
natural biomaterials which can be widely used as food preservative.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation
of Zhejiang Province of China (Y3110204), the Technology Planning
Project of Zhejiang Province of China (2011C12031), the
Gongyi Technology Application Project of Zhejiang Province of
China (2011C22024), and the National Science Foundation of China
(21102129).