Alginate coating with coffee silverskin extract: quality of fresh-cut melon during storage

Minimal fruit processing offers convenience but accelerates biochemical changes that compromise quality and reduce shelf life. Edible coatings are a promising strategy for slowing degradation and preserving characteristics during storage. Coffee silver skin, an agroindustrial byproduct rich in phenolic compounds, shows potential for active coatings. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of sodium alginate coatings containing coffee silver skin extract on the physicochemical quality of minimally processed melon. The fruits were divided into three treatments: uncoated (NR), sodium alginate (ALG), and sodium alginate with extract (EXT). Mass loss, color (L*, a*, b*, c*, and h*), total soluble solids (TSS), pH, and titratable acidity were determined (AOAC, 2016). On the fifth day of storage, the fruits showed a reduction in mass, with the EXT treatment maintaining greater stability (8.41 to 7.58) compared to the NR control (8.52 to 7.66). The EXT treatment had the highest total soluble solids content (7.10), compared to the ALG (6.67) and NR (6.17) samples. Regarding the b* color parameter, there was a significant difference between the extract and the control; the EXT treatment (8.19) had a significantly lower value than the NR treatment (10.90), indicating that the active coating prevented excessive yellowing of the pulp, while the pH and acidity parameters showed no significant differences (p < 0.05) among the treatments at the end of the period. These results demonstrate the greater efficiency of the EXT treatment in preserving physicochemical quality, indicating its potential for post-harvest preservation of melons.