Siti Zalifah Nurulain

Ms. Siti Zalifah Nurulain

Pathology and Clinical Laboratory

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

6Years (2021-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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30 August 2021 in Polymers
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
ZRZuliana Razali
Zuliana Razali
CSChandran Somasundram
Chandran Somasundram
Siti Zalifah NurulainSiti Zalifah Nurulain
Siti Zalifah Nurulain
WKWijenthiran Kunasekaran
Wijenthiran Kunasekaran
MAMatthew Raj Alias
Matthew Raj Alias
Cherry tomatoes are climacteric fruits that have a limited shelf life. Over the years, many methods have been applied to preserve the fruit quality and safety of these fruits. In this study, a novel method of combining mucilage from dragon fruits and UV-C irradiation was carried out. Cherry tomatoes were subjected to UV-C irradiation and edible coating, both as a stand-alone and hurdle treatment. The edible coating was prepared from the mucilage of white dragon fruits. Quality parameters including color, weight loss, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid, antioxidant analysis (total phenolic content and flavonoid content), and microbial analysis were measured throughout 21 days of storage at 4 °C. Results showed that the hurdle treatment extended shelf life by 21 days, reduced weight loss (0.87 ± 0.05%) and color changes (11.61 ± 0.95 ΔE), and inhibited microbes better than stand-alone treatments. Furthermore, fruits treated with the combination of UV-C and edible coating also contained higher total polyphenol content (0.132 ± 0.003 mg GAE/100 mL), total flavonoid content (13.179 ± 0.002 mg CE/100 mL), and ascorbic acid (1.07 ± 0.06 mg/100 mL). These results show that the combination of UV-C and edible coating as a hurdle treatment could be an innovative method to preserve shelf life and quality of fruits.