Utilisation of palm – based and beeswax coating on the postharvest-life of guava (Psidium guajava L.) during ambient and chilled storage

Guava is a climacteric fruit which has high nutritional content. It is a highly perishable fruit, undergoes rapid postharvest ripening in a few days under ambient condition. This paper aims to determine the effect of palm stearin and palm kernel olein blends on maintaining the quality of guava during storage. Two different coating formulations of palm stearin (PS) and palm kernel olein (PKOo) blends (1:1 and 3:2) were analysed for their slip melting point (SMP), cohesiveness, viscosity and density. Beeswax was used as a commercial coating for comparison whiles the uncoated guava was used as control. These coatings were applied onto guavas by hand-wipe technique using a sponge. Guavas were dried in corrugated fibre board boxes and stored in an air-conditioned room maintained at 20°C while a chiller maintained at 10°C was used for chilled temperature. Coating pick up, thickness and surface area were measured while guava properties were analysed for coating effect on weight loss, O2 and CO2 gases, firmness and glossiness during storage at ambient temperature (20°C) for 21 days and chilled temperature (10°C) for 30 days. Microstructure analysis was conducted within 2 days of coating at ambient temperature (20°C). The results obtained indicated that 1:1 PSPKOo blends had higher cohesiveness compared to beeswax. Both PSPKOo blends significantly (p 0.05) slowed the increases of weight loss and yellowness and slowed the decline of glossiness, lightness and greenness of guava at day 21 of 20°C of storage temperature, hence preserving the guava better compared to those coated with beeswax.