Edible Coating Formulated by Optimization from , Starch, and Arabic Gum Improved the Conservation of Banana () Fruits.

Banana is a very perishable climacteric fruit with consequence of large postharvest losses. The objective of the present study was to improve the postharvest shelf life of bananas. Fruits from the Melong locality were treated with coating solutions formulated with a mixture of , starch, and Arabic gum at different concentrations. These concentrations were obtained using the response surface methodology in order to establish the relationship between independent variables (ripening parameters) and dependent variable (, starch and Arabic gum), which led to the generation of experimental design as well as the prediction of result model. The effects of the coating solutions were evaluated on firmness, percentage of ripening, weight loss, chlorophyll , chlorophyll , and total soluble solid contents. The results showed that the combination of , starch, and Arabic gum extended the shelf life of banana by slowing down the chlorophyll degradation, the loss of firmness, the weight loss, and the synthesis of total soluble solids. The coefficients of determination () of the responses were all above 80% indicating that the experimental data fit well with the predicted responses. The interactions that influenced most of the responses were those between -starch and -Arabic gum. The optimum concentrations obtained for the mixture of the final solution were 286.799 ml.l (/), 102.589 g.l (/), and 1.0888% (/) for , starch, and Arabic gum, respectively.