Extending the Shelf-life of Mura, Capsicum

Frutescens and Solanum Lycopersicum

Andebor, Mary Ann

Balasta, Janeth

Malpal, J-heart

Mandapat, Ana Christina

Problem

All fruits and vegetables are living plant parts containing 65 to 95 percent water, and they
continue their living processes after harvest. Their post-harvest life depends on the rate at which they
use up their stored food reserves and their rate of water loss (Floros et al., 1997). When food and water
reserves are exhausted, the produce dies and decays. Anything that increases the rate of this process
may make the produce inedible before it can be used. Many factors affect shelf-life, ranging from pre
and post harvest environment to the genetic makeup of the concerned variety/crop species and the
physiology of harvested produce (Abadias et al., 2008). These factors can be divided into two broad
categories, the intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Intrinsic factors are the properties of the final produce and
seem to be affected by the genetic makeup of crop and the cultural practices followed. These include:
water activity, ph value and total acidity, redox potential, available oxygen, nutrients, natural micro flora
and surviving microbial counts. Extrinsic factors, on the other hand, are those which the final produce
encounters as it moves through the food chain. These include the factors like temperature, relative
humidity and light control during processing, storage and distribution, composition of atmosphere
within packaging and consumer handling. Due to limited shelf-life, many of these products have only a
few days left when they arrived at their destination. Some cannot be shipped at all; others have to be
shipped by air. This is ruinously expensive for low value products like vegetables. Packaging can also
have a negative and positive effect on the shelf-life. Unpackaged fruits and vegetables will dry out. Same
thing happens if they are packed in the paper or other permeable package. However, if they are
wrapped in most types of plastic film they can get soggy and slimy. Condensation and excess water
inside the pack can causes the food to rot. Bacteria and mould grow in the liquid and this becomes the
main process of degradation. It is not just a question of humidity control. Fruits and vegetables respire
after they are packed. They absorb oxygen and release carbon dioxide. As a result an O² concentration in
the pack tends to reduce and the CO² level to increase. Low oxygen can cause the growth of some nasty
bacteria which degrade the food very quickly. Excess CO² can increase the acidity of the food which
affects the taste and texture of the food. As such, it is important to allow O² and CO² to permeate in and
out of the pack to maintain a balance (Argenta et al., 2004).
 Tomatoes, chili and bananas can be bought by consumers in the market without having
difficulties. But these fruits/vegetables are known for a short span of its shelf life. We can say that one
of the reasons why producers are experiencing difficulty in selling the said fruits is because it decays in
just a few days which cause the loss of profits of the vendors.

Every year about six to eight tones of crab, shrimp and lobster shell’s waste are produced
globally (Suppakul et al., 2003). In comparison with fish, only small part (around 40 per cent) of a
crustacean mass is eatable. Waste shells are often just dumped in landfills or the sea. The potential
value of such waste is being long time ignored. Yet crustacean shells harbor many proteins, calcium
carbonate and chitin that can be used by the industry. Chitin is a natural polymer containing nitrogen
similar to cellulose, commonly found in plants.

GOALS/EXPECTED OUTCOME/HYPOTHESIS

The goal of the present study is to extend the shelf-life of a product, while maintaining its
nutritional quality with minimum changes in terms of physicochemical, microbial and organoleptic
parameters with storage using the chitin solution that will help the fruits to preserve its nutrients
without using a harmful chemical that will affect the consumer health. This study aims to reduce the
rate of quality loss of fruits, increase the shelf-life of the product, to prevent using the pesticides,
fumigants and algaecides in the field to deal with pests, fungus, and mold and to avoid using chemical to
firm other fruits. This may help the farmers and also the consumer to maintain the texture of their
products until these will delivered and consumed. To the families without refrigerator and cannot
afford commercial preservatives, this may cost them not to buy retail any vegetables or fruits like
bananas or that which will be consumed for a short span of time anymore instead, they can buy more
fruits which can stay in shelves for longer time.

METHODS AND PROCEDURE

The materials that are needed in this experiment are; chitin from the shrimp shells, any kind of
fruits that are easily to be rotten but in this experiment we’re going to use 2 bananas, 2 chili and 2
tomatoes, three (3) types of spray bottles, old newspaper, 6 jars, tissue or napkin, distilled water,
hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. The first sets of fruit are; 1 piece of banana, 1 piece of chili and
1 piece of tomato. The remaining fruits will be the second set.

First, you need to extract the chitin from the waste shrimp shell by collecting the shells, washing
and drying it out through the sunlight, after that, place the dry shell in the blender so that it will become
a powder. After making it to a shrimp shell powder, add hydrochloric acid for mineralizing the powder.
Once you have done it, wait for 2 hours, then add sodium hydroxide for deproteinating your finish
product from mineralizing powder and wait for the next 2 hours for it to become a completely chitin.

Now you have your chitin, you may now ready your three (3) types of spray bottles, distilled
water, hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. Place your 10 grams chitin in a spray bottle that has a
100 ml of hydrochloric acid then add 0.5N sodium hydroxide to make the pH solution to 7.0. After
adding the chemical materials, add distilled water on it to make the stock solution to 1 Liters. Repeat the
steps in adding the chemical materials in the bottle then put distilled water to make the stock solution
to 500 mL.

Wash your fruits in a tap water. Absorb the excess water with the use of tissue or napkin. Once
the fruits are dry place it into newspapers then spray the 500 mL chitin solution on your first set of fruits
and spray the 1L chitin solution on your second set of fruits. Once the fruits absorbed the chitin solution,
place it into a jar then loosely cover the container by a piece of newspaper. Once the procedures have
done you may observe your fruits every day.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.thinking-fruitandveg.com/index.php/shelf-life-extension/the-shelf-life-problem-for-
packaging-fruit-and-veg

Singh, Anshuman and Singh, A. K. (2011). Fruits and vegetables with longer shelf-life for extended
availability in the markets. Published by Delhi Agri-Horticultural Society, India. p. 131-135.

Abhrajyoti Tarafdar & Gargi Biswas (2016). Extraction of Chitosan from Prawn Shell Wastes and
Examination of its Viable Commercial Applications. Published by National Institute of Technology,
Durgapur. Volume-2, Issue-3.