Assessing the consumer acceptance and storability of chitosan and beeswax coated cellulose packaging for whole wheat bread

Whole wheat breads are usually packed in low density polyethylene (LDPE) or polypropylene (PP) based packets, however, owing to a blanket ban on non-biodegradable plastics, packaging materials derived from renewable ligno-cellulosic fibers, are gaining prevalence. This study takes into account, the purchase intention, overall acceptance and storability of uncoated (U), functional chitosan coated (CC) and beeswax-chitosan emulsion coated (WC) paper packaging materials, for whole wheat bread loaves stored at refrigerated (5 ± 2 °C) and ambient temperature (25 ± 2 °C) conditions. LDPE served as control. Overall consumer acceptability and the buying behavior suggested maximum acceptability of WC papers for whole wheat breads. The analytical and microbiological attributes of chitosan and emulsion coated paper packaged breads were better in comparison to that of LDPE. The changes in moisture content (39.12 ± 0.3% - 34.99 ± 0.3%) and alkaline water retention capacity (357.9 ± 2.07%–344 ± 2.0%) of bread samples were found to be significant under packaged storage at both temperatures (p < 0.05). The crumb and crust hardness of freshly packed breads was found to be 27.12 ± 0.09 N and 29.8 ± 0.11 N respectively; under packaged storage, crumb and crust hardness showed a maximum increase to 32.68 ± 0.19 N and 34.77 ± 0.12 N at ambient temperature conditions, respectively. WC and CC paper packaged bread samples observed reduced yeast and mold count as compared to uncoated paper packaged breads. The bread loaves packed in both chitosan and emulsion coated papers were found to be microbiologically stable up to 8 ± 1 days at 25 °C and 12 ± 1 days at 5 °C respectively. Functional chitosan and beeswax-chitosan coated paper packaged bread samples demonstrated appreciable sensory and analytical attributes at refrigerated conditions. Consumer acceptability studies also validated their affirmative outlook towards green purchasing, functionality of the packaging material and awareness about environmental risks posed by plastic packages.