THE EFFECTS OF APPLYING CHITOSAN OF DIFFERENT MOLECULAR WEIGHTS ON THE QUALITY OF KAMCHATKA BERRIES (LONICERA CAERULEA L.): PART 2

We evaluated the effects of chitosan of different molecular weights on the quality of Kamchatka berries after harvest and storage. Chitosan with lower molecular weights (from 3 to 21 kDa) positively influenced the soluble solid content after harvest. However, chitosan had no significant effect on titratable acidity after harvest. Regardless of the chitosan molecular weight, the berries contained from 7.4% to 30% more total polyphenols compared with the control (162 mg per 100 g) after harvest. After storage, the total phenolic content decreased slightly and depended on the storage conditions. The L-ascorbic acid content was the highest after harvest and storage after treatment with the highest molecular weight of chitosan (950k kDa). Chitosan 50 kDa positively influenced the firmness and puncture resistance of the berries after harvest (146% of control) and storage (135% of control).