In the past few decades, fruits have been increasingly consumed, leading to an increase in global fruit production. However, fresh produce is susceptible to large losses during production and preservation. In the postharvest preservation stage, fruits undergo various technical treatments for maintaining their quality. A widely adopted technology is the application of edible coatings, which can be applied to a diverse range of fruits to regulate the exchange of moisture and gases between the fruit and its environment. In addition, edible coatings provide a significant benefit by allowing the integration of different active ingredients into the coating’s matrix, meaning that these substances will associate with and possibly be eaten together with the fruit. This would help improve the organoleptic and nutritional qualities of the fruit as well as the shelf life. This paper provides an overview of the available data on the typical components used in coating matrix, focusing on the effect of the material combinations and application techniques to fruit properties. The processors can use this knowledge in choosing a suitable coating material and concentration for various fresh and fresh-cut fruits. Additionally, this paper reviews recent developments and limitations in utilizing edible coatings for prolonging the shelf-life of fruits.

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Banana is a really chilling injury sensitive product. Its sensitivity to cold temperatures generates serious practical, economical and commercial problems. Chilling injury related physiological responses of Cavendish type green banana samples stored at 2.5, 5, 10 °C and near optimal (15 °C) cold storage temperature were investigated by nondestructive optical methods (surface color and chlorophyll fluorescence measurement, DA-index ® evaluation) and by the determination of the physiological reactions (respiration, ethylene production, symptom manifestation) during cold storage and the 8-day long subsequent shelf-life. The positive effects of low temperature storage were proven on mass loss, respiration and ethylene production. In case of bananas stored at 2.5-10 °C, the chilling injury related changes in chlorophyll content related DA-index ® , IR-values; F m and F v chlorophyll fluorescence values, the L*, a*, b*, C* and hue angle color characteristics suggested clearly from day 3 the onset of chilling injury several days before the visible signs of chilling injury appeared.

Presented work investigated the application of a new color analysis technique in post-harvest life of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L. ‘Hudson’). The hue spectra fingerprinting creates a histogram of image colors by summarizing the saturation. The advantage of this calculation method is that vivid colors make peaks while neutral background color is eliminated without object segmentation. Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression was used to estimate reference parameters during 9 d cold storage at 10 ± 0.5 °C (RH = 90 ± 1%) and following 2 d shelf-life at 20 ± 0.5 °C. The reference parameters of respiration, weight loss, fruit firmness and total soluble solid (TSS) content were measured. Samples were split into seven groups according to the number of perforations of polypropylene film and fructose concentration of moisture absorber. It was observed that parameters TSS and fruit firmness were the most sensitive to the length of storage. Weight loss was affected significantly by packaging. All reference parameters were estimated by PLS model with R2 > 0.917, but weight loss and respiration obtained high estimation error of RMSE% = 48.02% and 11.76%, respectively. TSS and fruit firmness prediction were successful with RMSE% = 0.84% and 1.85%, respectively. Desiccation and color change of peduncle became visible in the green range of hue spectra. Color change of red fruit was observed with decreasing saturation in the red range of hue spectra. Our findings suggest that hue spectra fingerprinting can be a useful nondestructive method for monitoring quality change of sweet cherry during post-harvest handling and shelf-life.

1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) is the active component of the SmartFresh Quality System. By the application of the 1-MCP compound, quality of the harvested pears can be preserved longer during the normal cold storage. In our work, the effectiveness of the SmartFresh Quality System was investigated on 'Bosc Kobak' pears (Pyruscommunis L.) harvested at different times. The rheological changes and storage losses were measured. The effectiveness of 1-MCP depends on many variables, but our results show that the optimal harvest date and the condition of the harvested fruit are the most infl uential factors.

Application of cold storage temperatures below optimum induces a high risk and threat of chilling injury (CI) in the case of sensitive commodities. Sweet pepper belongs to this group of vegetables, so our main objective was to investigate and monitor the effect of non-optimal temperatures (2.5 and 5 °C) induced stress (chilling injury) on kápia type sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) during its postharvest storage by nondestructive quality measuring methods. Fresh, semi-matured (reddish-green colored) samples of ‘Kapitány F1’ cultivar were stored at 2.5, 5 and 10 °C for 7 d followed by 7 d shelf-life. Nondestructive texture measurements were carried out by a purpose built tabletop acoustic stiffness device. Surface color and chlorophyll content related quality indices were evaluated by a chroma meter, a DA-meter® and a chlorophyll fluorescence imaging system. High resolution digital pictures were captured and analyzed for possible CI defects by means of surface color values (normalized RGB, hue and saturation). According to our results, the evaluated quality indices (DA-index®, acoustic stiffness coefficient, surface color parameters; F0, Fm, Fv and Fv/Fm chlorophyll fluorescence parameters) clearly represented the temperature dependent quality changes during low temperature storage, subsequently followed by ambient shelf-life. Samples stored under and at 5 °C showed the chilling temperature stressed symptoms of delayed and partly retarded postharvest ripening, even under simulated shelf-life conditions, but without the onset and manifestation of the characteristic visible symptoms of chilling injury. This may raise doubts and suggest possible future research areas regarding the role of non-optimal cold storage temperatures induced stress, the effect of chilling injury contributing factors and consequences.

The effi cacy of 1-MCP on apricots at different treatment temperatures and days after harvest during 6 weeks of storage at 1 °C was investigated. On the 1 st , 3rd , or 5 th day after harvest, fruit were treated with 1-MCP at 1 °C for 24 hours. In order to evaluate the effect of temperature, apricots were exposed to 1-MCP at 1, 10, and 20 °C (on the 1 st day after harvest). 1-MCP application reduced the ethylene and CO 2 production and delayed softening. Fruit treated on the 1 st day after harvest presented the highest fi rmness at the end of the experiment. No signifi cant effect of treatment temperatures on apricot quality was observed. The time period between harvest and 1-MCP application could be delayed until the 5 th day after harvest. Results showed that 1-MCP extended the storage life and maintained the overall quality of apricot during storage and shelf-life.Keywords: apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.), 1-MCP, storage, temperature, delayThe highly appreciated and popular apricot's (Prunus armeniaca L.) fame is due to its attractive orange coloured appearance, unique fl avour, and nutritional value (LECCESE et al., 2008). However, because of its short season and postharvest shelf-life, the time for transport, sale, and consumption is limited in time. The postharvest ripening process of apricot is relatively quick, so the quality marks of the fruit decrease signifi cantly including wrinkled skin, fl esh softening, reduced juiciness, and nutrition losses (WU et al., 2015). The effi cacy of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) in maintaining fruit quality in case of tomato, apple, pear, plum, avocado, and melon (BLANKENSHIP & DOLE, 2003;HITKA et al., 2014) has been widely reported. However, in the commercial utilization strategy, exposure temperature and delays of treatment play an important role in close relation to the features of the different storage facilities. So, the aim of this study was to examine 1-MCP effi cacy and response of the apricot to treatments at different days after harvest and different temperatures during cold storage and shelf-life.

Information about 1-MCP application time on pears is crucial to optimize the schedule of treatment in commercial practice. In the present work, the effect of a 3, 5 and 7 d delay of 1-MCP treatment after harvest on ‘Bosc Kobak’ pears was investigated, with an emphasis on shelf life. Fruit was treated with 1-MCP (625 ppm) on the 3rd, 5th and 7th d after harvest for 24 h and then kept at 20 °C for 14 d or stored at 1 °C in normal atmosphere for 6 months. Ethylene, carbon dioxide production, flesh firmness, soluble solid content and color index was determined after 4 and 6 months of cold storage and an additional 7 d of shelf-life at 20 °C. Pears treated with 1-MCP had lower values in ethylene and carbon dioxide production after storage compared to the control group; in particular, fruit treated on the 3rd d after harvest obtained the lowest values. Moreover, flesh firmness of treated samples had a higher value than that of the others after cold storage and subsequent 7 d of shelf life at 20 °C. In addition, fruit treated on the 3rd d after harvest exhibited the slower change in surface color than that of other groups. However, 1-MCP treatment on the 5th and 7th d after harvest had a minor effect on firmness and surface color change after a long storage period. The effect of 1-MCP treatment depends on the time from harvest to application. The application of 1-MCP on the 3rd d after harvest obtained the highest efficacy. The results of this study provided information on scheduling the commercial 1-MCP application for ‘Bosc Kobak’ pears.