Soluções sustentáveis para conservação pós-colheita: aprimorando a vida útil de frutas e hortaliças utilizando bioplásticos biodegradáveis e ingredientes ativos

Abstract

The monograph focused on the development of active starch-plastic packaging derived from brewing malt for packaging fruit and vegetables. In an attempt to use available fruit and vegetables for the research, three fruits (blueberries, plums and blackberries) and one vegetable (pumpkin) were selected. Chapter 1 aimed to construct a literature review on the topics of post-harvest and bioplastics, exploring the topics to be introduced throughout the work. Chapter 2 aimed to evaluate bioplastic material suitable for packaging, using physical-chemical analyses of bioplastics associated with

malt bagasse. The results indicated that the material has malleability, physical- chemical stability and degradability suitable for a packaging material. In Chapter 3, the

active ingredient was applied to blueberries refrigerated for 28 days in paper and plastic packaging treated with mint essential oil in each type of packaging, concluding that blueberries subjected to the active ingredient have a strong, noticeable residual effect and require further studies. In Chapter 4, the active ingredient was used in a bioplastic vehicle in plums refrigerated for 81 days with starch coating treatments and containing mint essential oil in a bioplastic vehicle during storage. The response was that the bioplastic base associated with the active ingredient of mint essential oil showed a lower incidence of wilting in plums. In Chapter 5, blackberries were stored for 19 days under malt bagasse concentrations of 0%, 9%, 18% and 27%, concluding that the application of bioplastic containing malt bagasse composite resulted in a lower occurrence of rot and leakage in the fruits, in addition to providing low permeability results in the bioplastic base. The analyses indicated that the application of bioplastics containing any amount of malt bagasse resulted in a lower occurrence of rot and leakage in the fruits. In Chapter 6, a diverse range of active ingredients were applied to bioplastic packaging containing malt bagasse: iron oxide; zeolite nanoclay, thymol essential oil and alpha-tocopherol incorporated into starch-based packaging associated with malt bagasse for the storage of minimally processed pumpkin for 12 days. Tocopherol resulted in less browning of the pulp, in addition to the thyme essential oil and iron oxide preserving moisture and presenting a lower rate of noticeable softening progression during storage. The general conclusions in Chapter 7 highlighted the effect resulting from the action of mint and thyme essential oils.