Production of Innovative Essential Oil-Based Emulsion Coatings for Fungal Growth Control on Postharvest Fruits

Abstract

This work assessed the antimicrobial potential of natural essential oils (EOs) from cinnamon (CEO), zataria (ZEO), and satureja (SEO), applied natively or as coatings against Penicillium expansum and Botrytis cinerea during both in vitro and in vivo (on apple fruits) experiments. The induced inhibitory effect towards fungal growth, as a function of both EO type and concentration (75–1200 μL/L), was preliminarily investigated to select the most suitable EO for producing bacterial cellulose nanocrystals (BCNCs)/fish gelatin (GelA)-based emulsions. CEO and ZEO exhibited the best performances against P. expansum and B. cinerea, respectively. None of the pristine EOs completely inhibited the fungal growth and “disease severity”, properly quantified via size measurements of lesions formed on fruit surfaces. As compared to pristine CEO, coating emulsions with variable CEO concentration (75–2400 µL/L) curbed lesion spreading on apples, owing to the controlled CEO release during a 21-day temporal window. The strongest effect was displayed by BCNCs/GelA-CEO emulsions at the highest CEO concentration, upon which lesions on fruit skins were barely detectable. This work demonstrated the capability of EOs embedded in BCNCs/GelA-based nanocapsules to efficiently slow down microbial spoilage on postharvest fruits, thus offering viable opportunities for developing innovative antimicrobial packaging systems.

Extending the Shelf-Life of Nectarines through Fish Gelatin/Cellulose Nanocrystals/Cinnamon Essential Oil-Based Edible Coatings

“…Undamaged fruits of similar size were transferred to the laboratory and kept at a temperature of 4 ± 1 • C until being tested. All the chemicals used in this research for the preparation of the coating and for conducting quality chemical tests were similar to those reported in our previous research works [11,[38][39][40]48]. The study utilized several commercially available materials.…”

Cinnamon Essential-Oil-Loaded Fish Gelatin–Cellulose Nanocrystal Films Prepared under Acidic Conditions

“…In this regard, it was shown that the incorporation of essential oils (EOs) in gelatin films had a positive effect on the water vapor barrier properties [2,[12][13][14][15][16], besides having well-known antimicrobial activity. For example, the use of cinnamon essential oil (CEO) for the generation of active packaging films and coatings for fungal growth control on postharvest fruits has recently been proposed [17]. Similarly, cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) can be successfully used in combination with fish gelatin to yield nanocomposite structures with superior mechanical characteristics [18][19][20][21][22][23].…”

Natural Emulsions Based on Essential Oils as Antifungal and Antimycotoxicogenic Agents on Wheat for Bakery Industry

“…Previous studies have investigated different systems to obtain natural preparations based on EOs with antifungal potential in order to select the most suitable EO, carrier, and/or emulsifier for preparing the emulsion. Bacterial cellulose nanocrystals (BCNCs)/fish gelatin (GelA)-based emulsion [ 12 ], chitosan coatings and films loaded with different EOs [ 13 , 14 ], EOs encapsulated in lecithin [ 15 , 16 ], low-density polyethylene [ 17 ], octenyl succinic acid starch [ 18 ], Tween [ 19 ], zeolite, gelatin [ 20 ], and nanocellulose [ 21 ] have been tested. Significant results have been obtained by incorporating EOs into different coarse emulsions (CEs), nanoemulsion (NE), and Pickering emulsion (PE) at different concentrations [ 17 ].…”