Abstract
Various preservation techniques could be utilized to minimize the spoilage of perishables such as fresh fruits and vegetables which have the problems of shorter shelf-life and decay in nutritional quality during storage. These techniques include use of pesticides and fungicides during pre-harvesting conditions, low temperature post-harvest storage conditions, application of edible coatings along with chemical additives or natural plant extracts and different nano-technological techniques such as development of nano-capsules or multi-layered systems etc. The utilization of essential oils or natural plant extracts in edible coatings has been reported in recent times. Plant extracts such as pomegranate peel extract, pineapple extract or incorporation of essential oils such as cinnamon oil, citrus oil etc. have been incorporated in polysaccharide based edible films and coatings such as chitosan, alginate, cassava starch; protein based such as caseinate films, whey protein isolates and lipid based films such as beeswax etc and found to enhance the overall quality of the fruits or vegetables. The current chapter describes the advances made in utilizing this technique on fresh fruits and vegetables leading to extension in their shelf life.
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