Bioactive Edible Coatings Based on CMC and Chokeberry Extract as a Strategy for Improving the Quality and Microbiological Safety of Freshly Cut Peppers During Short-Term Storage

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether edible coatings and plant derived ex-tracts can help maintain the quality and microbiological safety of fresh-cut sweet peppers during short-term refrigerated storage. Two bell pepper cultivars, Sunny F1 (yellow) and Yecla F1 (red), were sliced and subjected to five treatments: water wash-ing (control), washing with BioActiW 2000 Food sanitizer (BAW), BAW followed by carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) coating (BAW+CMC), CMC coating enriched with 3.5% alcoholic chokeberry pomace extract (CMC+AE), and soaking in 3.5% aqueous chokeberry pomace extract (AAE). Samples were stored at 5 °C for 7 days and evalu-ated for physicochemical analysis, microbiological contamination, postharvest quality, and sensory properties. The treatments influenced quality attributes in a cultivar de-pendent manner. All coating based treatments reduced polyphenol and L-ascorbic acid content relative to the control, although formulations containing chokeberry extract tended to limit these losses compared with BAW+CMC. Total sugar and carotenoid contents were not significantly affected. In both cultivars, BAW and BAW+CMC were the most effective treatments for reducing mesophilic bacteria and yeast counts, limit-ing softening, reducing weight loss, and maintaining marketable quality. By contrast, AAE applied without prior sanitization increased microbial counts in Sunny F1, indi-cating that the extract alone was not sufficient to control native microflora. Sensory analysis showed clear cultivar specific responses: Sunny F1 generally tolerated CMC+AE and BAW+CMC better, whereas Yecla F1 was more sensitive to off-flavors associated with the chokeberry extract. PCA analysis indicated that smell and taste at-tributes were the main drivers of perceived quality. These results suggest that CMC based coatings can support fresh-cut pepper quality, but their practical value depends strongly on prior sanitization. The addition of chokeberry pomace extract may be beneficial for some quality traits, yet its overall ef-fect depends on cultivar and treatment conditions, including extract concentration and pH.