Abstract

During the traditional Lunar new year festival or TET in Vietnam, harvest moon watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) has been in great demand as a reverence to decorate on the ancestor altar. Owing to high water content and thin dark green rind, its shelf-life is quite short under normal environment. Therefore, this research was conducted during 2019 at Labone Scientific Co. Ltd, Vietnam on the effectiveness of alginate and chitosan coating on the storage stability of watermelon. The harvest moon watermelons were pre-treated with alginate (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5%), chitosan (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5%), a combination of alginate: chitosan (0.5: 1.5, 1.0: 1.0 and 1.5: 0.5%) and preserved under ambient temperature for 15 days. Weight loss (%), firmness (N), total soluble solid (oBrix), beta-caroten (mg/100g) were the main attributes to be monitored within 15 days at 3 day-interval. Water melon coated by alginate: chitosan (1.0: 1.0%) revealed the smallest change in weight loss, highest retention of firmness and increased total soluble solids and beta-carotene contents. From these findings, the shelf-life of harvest moon watermelon could be extended up to 15 days without any deterioration by the use of alginate and chitosan both at 1.0% concentration.