Gelatin-Based Edible Coating Combined with Mentha pulegium Essential Oil as Bioactive Packaging for Strawberries

Table 2

Firmness and color of coated and uncoated strawberries during storage at 4°C for 13 days.

Storage time (days)		0	3	7	10	13
Firmness (N)	T1	2.14 ± 0.56^Aab	3.07 ± 0.62^Aa	3.05 ± 0.25^Aa	2.52 ± 0.23^Aab	1.29 ± 0.86^Ab
	T2	2.87 ± 0.81^Aab	3.87 ± 0.99^Aab	4.86 ± 0.57^Aa	3.60 ± 0.25^Bab	2.16 ± 1.57^Ab
	T3	2.93 ± 0.92^Aa	4.01 ± 1.38^Aa	4.65 ± 2.07^Aa	4.77 ± 0.27^Ca	2.95 ± 1.17^Aa
	T4	2.24 ± 0.23^Aa	3.01 ± 0.40^Aa	3.41 ± 1.13^Aa	2.77 ± 0.62^ABa	2.91 ± 0.92^Aa
L value	T1	46.16 ± 0.92^Aa	42.13 ± 2.25^Aab	43.68 ± 1.78^Aab	40.93 ± 2.58^Abc	37.11 ± 0.99^Ac
	T2	44.04 ± 0.61^Aa	42.06 ± 1.66^Aab	42.37 ± 1.60^Aab	41.39 ± 3.01^Aab	38.77 ± 1.88^ABb
	T3	45.98 ± 0.59^Aa	42.50 ± 1.44^Aab	42.42 ± 2.08^Aab	42.90 ± 0.51^Aab	40.06 ± 1.79^ABb
	T4	39.04 ± 1.03^Ba	46.33 ± 1.63^Ab	40.15 ±  ± 0.79^Aa	40.93 ± 2.58^Aa	41.39 ± 1.48^Ba
Chroma value	T1	30.31 ± 8.37^Aa	24.22 ± 1.87^Aab	21.36 ± 2.10^Aab	19.47 ± 1.11^Aab	17.56 ± 3.52^Ab
	T2	24.69 ± 0.33^Aa	20.09 ± 2.25^Aab	16.98 ± 1.65^Ab	17.66 ± 2.09^Ab	21.19 ± 1.72^Aab
	T3	23.77 ± 2.78^Aa	18.88 ± 2.24^Aa	19.46 ± 1.65^Aa	18.26 ± 1.14^Aa	20.09 ± 3.95^Aa
	T4	31.77 ± 4.62^Aa	22.31 ± 2.89^Ab	19.43 ± 2.20^Ab	17.19 ± 0.74^Ab	20.93 ± 2.61^Ab

The values are given as mean ± standard deviation (n = 3). Different capital letters within a column indicate significant differences among treatments (). Different small letters within a row indicate significant differences due to storage time (). T1: control; T2: gelatin coating only; T3: gelatin + MEO (0.5%) coating; T4: gelatin + MEO (1%) coating; L^∗, lightness.