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<p><i>Tribolium castaneum</i>, a serious pest of stored products, was innovatively utilized as a source of chitosan to improve fruit shelf life. Chitosan was extracted from adult <i>T. castaneum</i> using an acid–base extraction method and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, degree of deacetylation and molecular weight analysis. <i>T. castaneum</i> chitosan (TC) and commercial shrimp chitosan (CC) were formulated into aqueous coatings containing acetic acid, Tween 80 and glycerol at 0.5% and 1% (w/v) concentrations and applied to freshly harvested apple (<i>Malus domestica</i>) and strawberry (<i>Fragaria × ananassa</i>), stored at room (30&#xa0;°C) and cold (10&#xa0;°C) temperatures at 75 ± 5% relative humidity. Decay incidence, weight loss, pH, total soluble solids (TSS), total titratable acidity (TTA) and fruit coat colour (CIELAB) were assessed. At cold temperature, all treatments suppressed decay in apples and strawberries, whereas at room temperature, 1% TC completely prevented decay in both fruits during the storage period. At room temperature, 0.5% of TC and 1% CC coatings showed low decay incidence in apple (10% and 12.5%, respectively) and strawberries (37.5% and 65.0%, respectively), while solvent and uncoated controls reached 100% decay. Apples coated with 1% TC at 30&#xa0;°C exhibited minimal weight loss (9.41 ± 0.8%), a moderate pH increase (5.09 ± 0.07) and maintained higher TSS (15.4 ± 0.5 °Brix) and TTA (0.14 ± 0.01% malic acid). Under cold storage, 1% TC-coated apples retained near-fresh characteristics (pH = 4.77 ± 0.04; TTA = 0.35 ± 0.01% malic acid) after 50 days. Similarly, 1% TC-coated strawberries at 30&#xa0;°C maintained higher TSS (10.7 ± 0.9 °Brix) and acidity (1.08 ± 0.04% citric acid) compared to controls (TSS = 4.2 ± 0.6 °Brix; TTA = 0.88 ± 0.05% citric acid). TC coatings also preserved fruit brightness and colour (higher <i>L*</i>, <i>a*</i> and <i>b*</i> values) better than CC or uncoated fruits. Overall, <i>T. castaneum</i> chitosan effectively delayed decay, retained physicochemical and visual quality, performing comparably or superiorly to commercial shrimp chitosan.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>

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Evaluation of Insect-derived Chitosan from Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) for Postharvest Protection of Apples and Strawberries

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月20日

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  • Kannan Keerthika,
  • Priyanath Indu,
  • Manickkam Jayakumar

摘要

Tribolium castaneum, a serious pest of stored products, was innovatively utilized as a source of chitosan to improve fruit shelf life. Chitosan was extracted from adult T. castaneum using an acid–base extraction method and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, degree of deacetylation and molecular weight analysis. T. castaneum chitosan (TC) and commercial shrimp chitosan (CC) were formulated into aqueous coatings containing acetic acid, Tween 80 and glycerol at 0.5% and 1% (w/v) concentrations and applied to freshly harvested apple (Malus domestica) and strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa), stored at room (30 °C) and cold (10 °C) temperatures at 75 ± 5% relative humidity. Decay incidence, weight loss, pH, total soluble solids (TSS), total titratable acidity (TTA) and fruit coat colour (CIELAB) were assessed. At cold temperature, all treatments suppressed decay in apples and strawberries, whereas at room temperature, 1% TC completely prevented decay in both fruits during the storage period. At room temperature, 0.5% of TC and 1% CC coatings showed low decay incidence in apple (10% and 12.5%, respectively) and strawberries (37.5% and 65.0%, respectively), while solvent and uncoated controls reached 100% decay. Apples coated with 1% TC at 30 °C exhibited minimal weight loss (9.41 ± 0.8%), a moderate pH increase (5.09 ± 0.07) and maintained higher TSS (15.4 ± 0.5 °Brix) and TTA (0.14 ± 0.01% malic acid). Under cold storage, 1% TC-coated apples retained near-fresh characteristics (pH = 4.77 ± 0.04; TTA = 0.35 ± 0.01% malic acid) after 50 days. Similarly, 1% TC-coated strawberries at 30 °C maintained higher TSS (10.7 ± 0.9 °Brix) and acidity (1.08 ± 0.04% citric acid) compared to controls (TSS = 4.2 ± 0.6 °Brix; TTA = 0.88 ± 0.05% citric acid). TC coatings also preserved fruit brightness and colour (higher L*, a* and b* values) better than CC or uncoated fruits. Overall, T. castaneum chitosan effectively delayed decay, retained physicochemical and visual quality, performing comparably or superiorly to commercial shrimp chitosan.

Graphical Abstract