Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD PROPERTIES, cilt.29, sa.1, ss.1-27, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Post-harvest losses in leafy vegetables such as lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. cv. GriseMaraichere) are a critical issue due to physiological weight loss, microbial spoilage,and biochemical deterioration. In this study, the effects of four different coating for-mulations [Chitosan Microparticles (CsMPs); CsMPs+thyme essential oil (CsMPs+Oil);CsMPs+Selenium Microparticles (CsMPs+SeMPs); CsMPs+SeMPs+thyme oil (CsMPs+SeMPs+Oil)] on post-harvest quality parameters in lettuce. Plants were harvested atoptimal maturity stage (65 days), coated using the dip method, and stored for 10 days attwo different temperatures [4°C (95 ± 2% humidity) and 21°C (60 ± 2% humidity)]. At theend of the 10-day storage period, the CsMPs+SeMPs application at 4°C reduced weightloss from 11.59% to 6.42% compared to the control (p < .05). At the same temperature,the decay rate was 4.50% in the control group, while it decreased to 0% in the CsMPs+SeMPs and CsMPs+SeMPs+Oil applications. In terms of color stability, the highestchroma value at 4°C was obtained with the CsMPs+SeMPs application (40.52), whileCsMPs+SeMPs+Oil showed the best performance at 21°C (35.17). Respiration rate wasreduced to 27.4% at 4°C with the CsMPs+SeMPs application (control: 33.9%); at 21°C, thesame application suppressed metabolic activity from 115.3% to 91.7%. The findingsindicate that CsMPs+SeMPs and CsMPs+SeMPs+Oil formulations are particularly effec-tive in reducing post-harvest quality losses in lettuce. It is recommended that thesecoating formulations be tested on other leafy vegetables (parsley, arugula, spinach,cabbage) with different surface morphologies and storage requirements.