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Indian blackberry or Jamun ( Syzygium cumini L.) is an underutilized fruit with good therapeutic value, but is highly perishable. So considering these facts, this study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of biodegradable coatings of chitosan (CH), alginate (AL), and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) for improvement of postharvest shelf life and quality characteristics of Jamun fruit. Jamun samples were dipped for 2 min into the solution of CH (1.5% and 1%), AL (1.5% and 1%), and CMC (1.5% and 1%), while the uncoated fruit served as control. Jamun fruit coated with edible coatings exhibited significant delay in weight loss and positive effects on decay percentage, total soluble solids, pH, titratable acidity, and sugar accumulation as compared to uncoated control fruit. In addition, edible coatings showed a positive effect on maintaining a higher concentration of antioxidant compounds. Compared to the control, all of the coatings had positive effects on the inhibition of cell wall degrading enzyme activities. After 16 days of storage, jamun samples treated with CH and CMC coatings maintained good sensory acceptability. The results of the study suggest that a coating of CH 1.5% and CMC 1.5% is useful for extending the shelf life of jamun fruit, which in turn is effective in stabilizing the market demand and proved to be safe and effective at ambient conditions.

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The present study has been carried out to evaluate the effect of a composite edible coating of 2 % Sodium alginate and 0.2 % Olive oil with combination of 1 % ascorbic acid and 1 % citric acid on the post harvest nutritional quality and shelf life of Ber fruit stored at 25 ± 2°C and 65 % R.H. The coatings reduced the decay occurrence, weight loss, accumulation of total soluble solids (TSS) and total sugars in Ber fruit and enhanced the level of antioxidants. The delayed activity of polygalacturonase (PG), Pectate lyase (PL) and Pectin methyl esterase (PME) was noticed in coated fruits than that of the control fruit indicating the reduced softening and ripening process. These findings suggest that the composite edible coating tested under the current study has the potential to control decaying incidence of Ber fruit, extends its storage life and also improves its valuable nutritional characteristics.

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