Antifungal Edible Coatings for Fresh Citrus Fruit: A Review

Abstract

According to their origin, major postharvest losses of citrus fruit are caused by weight loss, fungal diseases, physiological disorders, and quarantine pests. Cold storage and postharvest treatments with conventional chemical fungicides, synthetic waxes, or combinations of them are commonly used to minimize postharvest losses. However, the repeated application of these treatments has led to important problems such as health and environmental issues associated with fungicide residues or waxes containing ammoniacal compounds, or the proliferation of resistant pathogenic fungal strains. There is, therefore, an increasing need to find non-polluting alternatives to be used as part of integrated disease management (IDM) programs for preservation of fresh citrus fruit. Among them, the development of novel natural edible films and coatings with antimicrobial properties is a technological challenge for the industry and a very active research field worldwide. Chitosan and other edible coatings formulated by adding antifungal agents to composite emulsions based on polysaccharides or proteins and lipids are reviewed in this article. The most important antifungal ingredients are selected for their ability to control major citrus postharvest diseases like green and blue molds, caused by Penicillium digitatum and Penicillium italicum, respectively, and include low-toxicity or natural chemicals such as food additives, generally recognized as safe (GRAS) compounds, plant extracts, or essential oils, and biological control agents such as some antagonistic strains of yeasts or bacteria. OPEN ACCESSCoatings 2015, 5 963

Comparison of Different Fruit Coatings to Enhance the Shelflife of Kinnow Mandarin

“…Water loss from the fruit peel, pulp and juice adversely affects the fruit weight and appearance by causing wilting, shriveling and fruit softening. Moreover; many physiological and rind disorders of citrus are also related to water loss from the fruit (Greirson et al, 2006;Palou et al, 2015). After waxing of citrus fruits, a thin film tightly adheres the fruit skin and the pores of cuticle are blocked which decreases the rate of respiration and transpiration, ultimately leads to reduce the water loss from fruit surface (NARI, 2004;Shahid, 2007;Palou et al, 2015).…”

Chemical Composition, Toxicity and Antifungal Activities of Megaphrynium macrostachyum (K. Schum) Leaf Extract against Foodborne Fungi

“…Several researchers have done extensive works on natural antimicrobials from plants as agents of preservation of postharvest crops (Clevelands et al, 2001;Negi, 2012;Palou et al, 2015). This study was aimed at verifying the potency of Megaphrynium macrostachyum as antimicrobial agents against fungi responsible for the spoilage of orange juice and corn Jell-O.…”

Effect of Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose-Beeswax Composite Edible Coatings Formulated with or without Antifungal Agents on Physicochemical Properties of Plums during Cold Storage

“…These hydrocolloids generally form a continuous structured film with superior mechanical properties and oxygen barrier properties compared to lipid-based coatings but present a low barrier to moisture due to their hydrophilic character [3,4]. For this reason, composite edible coatings based on matrixes of polysaccharides or proteins and lipids are formulated to obtain coatings with superior mechanical and barrier properties [5].…”