Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the physiological response and quality of the ‘Tahiti’ acid lime coated with carboxymethylcellulose (N-CMC), pectin (N-PEC) and starch (N-ST) nanocomposites based on cellulose nanocrystals (NC). Respiratory rate, ethylene production, loss of fresh weight, total chlorophyll and fruit firmness were evaluated during 9 days of storage. At the end of storage, only fruits coated with N-CMC and N-PEC exhibited significantly lower ethylene yield (0.92 and 0.98 μg C2H4 kg-1 h-1, respectively) than fruits coated with CMC and PEC (1.6 and 2.02 μg C2H4 kg-1 h-1, respectively). On the 3rd day of storage, fruits coated with N-PEC showed a respiratory rate (12.01 mg CO2 kg-1 h-1) similar to the fruits of the control (13.52 mg CO2 kg-1 h-1), but it was significantly lower than the fruits coated with PEC (14.93 mg CO2 kg-1 h-1). Only fruits coated with N-PEC showed significantly lower fresh weight losses than the control fruits. Fruits coated with N-PEC had chlorophyll retention levels (18.95 mg g-1) higher than fruits with PEC (13.25 mg g-1). This work showed that the N-PEC nanocomposite, based on NC, was the coating that showed greater potential for preserving quality of the ‘Tahiti’ acid lime.

In this work, the effects of incorporating cellulose nanocrystals from soy hulls (WSH30) on the mechanical, thermal, and barrier properties of methylcellulose (MC) nanocomposites were evaluated. MC/WSH30 nanocomposite films with different filler levels (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10%) were prepared by casting. Compared to neat MC film, improvements in the mechanical and barrier properties were observed, while thermal stability was retained. The improved mechanical properties of nanocomposites prepared may be attributed to mechanical percolation of WSH30, formation of a continuous network of WSH30 linked by hydrogen interactions and a close association between filler and matrix.