摘要：Intermediate moisture apricots were produced from sun dried natural apricots which were dipped into a 2.5% citric acid solution at 80 o C for 3 minutes. Intermediate moisture apricots were coated with different formulations of natural corn protein “zein” films by dipping treatment. The potential of antimicrobial and antioxidant agents in edible zein film and the coating effects to maintain the quality of intermediate moisture apricots has been investigated during 10 months storage at 5 and 20 o C. Colour change was reduced remarkably by coating process. The control fruits presented higher values of a * /b * (1.0±0.1) than the coated fruits (0.7±0.2). ∆E value of coated samples was found to be 7.9±1.1 at the end of storage period where it was identified as 13.8±0.6 for control samples . Total viable bacteria count of control group was found significantly higher than zein film coated samples ( P <0.05). Coating with zein film inhibited microbial growth to the extent of around 2 log between control and coated batches. Higher storage temperature caused higher moisture loss from samples , however no significant difference was found between different coating formulations on moisture loss.
