Abstract
Use of biologically safe, essential oil-incorporated fruit coatings to reduce postharvest losses has become an attractive alternative to synthetic fungicides in recent years. Increase in shelf life due to reduced water loss and reduced evaporation of essential oils (EO) within the coating are key advantages of incorporating EOs to fruit coatings. The effect of beeswax as a fruit coating with and without essential oil on the postharvest quality and natural disease development of mango (cv. Willard) was evaluated by conducting a laboratory experiment. Pure Beeswax, dissolved either in vegetable oil (1:3 w/v) or petroleum ether (1:4 w/v), served as the coating material. Basil oil at 400 or 600 μL L-1 was incorporated to the different coating material. Fruits with no coating and no essential oil served as controls. Eight replicate fruits were used per treatment and three trials were performed. Treated fruits were arranged in a Completely Randomized Design and kept under ambient conditions. Daily observations were made on natural disease development and weight loss. The Total Soluble Solid content and titrable acidity were measured at eating ripe stage and sensory evaluation by a taste panel was also obtained. Data were analyzed using ANOVA with SPSS software version 20.0 package. Results indicated that basil oil in beeswax significantly reduced physiological weight loss, delayed fruit ripening and also delayed and reduced postharvest disease development.
Highlights
Due to increasing awareness of the benefits of a balanced diet and healthy eating habits, there is a high consumer demand for fresh fruits and vegetables
Results indicated that basil oil in beeswax significantly reduced physiological weight loss, delayed fruit ripening and delayed and reduced postharvest disease development
The physiological weight loss was significantly higher in the control fruits which had no coating material or essential oils (EO) treatment on all days considered as opposed to the fruits receiving treatments (Figure 1)
Summary
Due to increasing awareness of the benefits of a balanced diet and healthy eating habits, there is a high consumer demand for fresh fruits and vegetables. The production of fresh commodities is high, a large percentage of fresh produce is lost postharvest, due to diseases caused by microorganisms. Application of synthetic chemicals for prevention of postharvest diseases is at present being misused. The use of essential oils (EO) for the control of disease has become an attractive alternative to synthetic chemicals due to its therapeutic activity and toxicity to fungi, bacteria and insects (Delespaul et al, 2000). Use of essential oils for the control of postharvest diseases has been tried out with promising results on fruits such as mandarin, kiwi and rambutan (Arras, 1988; Thanassoulopoulos and Yanna, 1997; Sivakumar et al, 2002)
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