Effect of edible coating from gelatin-k-carrageenan composites with the addition of orange peel extract (Citrus sinensis (L) osbeck) on the quality attributes of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)

The effectiveness of coating tomatoes with varying quantities of orange peel, based on gelatin k-carrageenan, was assessed in this study. For 21 days, at room temperature (29 °C, 67 RH) and low temperature (4 °C, 95 RH), the physicochemical properties, respiration rate, antioxidant properties, and disease incidence and severity of coated and uncoated tomatoes were measured. The antibacterial activity of the active ingredients has also been demonstrated through an in silico test. According to the results, combining 1.5 orange peel extract with gelatin-k-carrageenan can delay the ripening process of tomatoes by up to 21 days. The use of edible coating made from gelatin, k-carrageenan with the addition of baby orange peel extract with a concentration of 1.5 at temperatures of 4 °C and 29 °C can sequentially inhibit weight loss to 5.29 and 7.03, maintain hardness at 1.28 N and 0.88 N and slow down redness in tomatoes at values of 0.12 and 0.29. It can also inhibit changes in pH 4.41 and 4.65, total dissolved solids 3.27 ˚Brix and 3.58 ˚Brix, total titratable acid 0.40 and 0.38, respiration rate and 13.27 mgCO2/kg/hour and 12.01 mgCO2/kg/hour, tomato antioxidant content (ascorbic acid 35.76 mg/100 g and 43.22 mg/100 g, lycopene 0.41 mg/g and 0.44 mg/g, total phenolic content 4.89 mg GAE/g and 5.73 mg GAE/g) up to 21 days of storage. It also can inhibit fungal growth until the 14th day and slow down fungal growth to 10 and 13.33 and severity 2.08 and 6.25 up during storage. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2025.