The influence of nanocellulose coating on saffron quality during storage.

Since saffron is an added-value product, and the most expensive agricultural product, it is necessary to increase its shelf life, prevent its quality loss during storage, and maintain its organoleptic properties, enabling producers to export saffron with higher quality and better consumer acceptability. So, in this research, saffron samples were coated through applying different carbohydrate biopolymers: maltodextrin with DE=4 or DE=20 (MD4 and MD20) or their combination with nanocellulose fibres (MDC4 and MDC20). Finally, the experiments were carried out to measure rehydration ratio, water activity, crocin content, color values, and sensory properties of saffron samples coated by different materials.