Authors M.U. Hasan, R. Riaz, A.U. Malik, A.S. Khan, R. Anwar, R.N.U. Rehman, S. Ali,
Postharvest losses of fruits are a serious problem because of rapid deterioration during handling, transport, and storage, Use of edible coatings over fruits is used to improve their quality and self-life, Aloe Vera gel as an edible coating material for fruits and vegetables driven by its antifungal activity, Aloe Vera gel based edible coating have been shown to prevent loss of moisture and firmness, control respiratory rate and maturation development, delay oxidative browning and reduce microorganism proliferation in fruits such as Oranges, grapes, sweet cherries, and Papaya, for example In case of Papaya, the Aloe vera coated fruits survived the storage period of 15 days at low temperature whereas all the uncoated controls decayed within 10 days, is better for coated fruits, Grapes, it was found that the storability could be extended up to 35 days at 1 “C. Oranges have also been used for study and it was found that Aloe Vera coating in oranges resulted in a decrease in weight loss, an increase in titrability of acids and higher TSS, use of postharvest chemical treatments leading to the enhancement of shelf life of fruits, post-harvest losses of fruits are serious problem because of rapid deterioration during handling, transport, and storage, the losses of quality are based on weight loss, color changes, accelerated softening and rachis browning, and high incidence of berry decay, which lead to a reduction of shelf life, edible Coatings for increasing the shelf life of fruits and vegetables (without refrigeration), Importance of Aloe Vera for edible coating, Aloe vera gel is used as an antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory gel, recently, the use of Aloe Vera gel as an edible coating has been reported to prolong the shelf life and delay senescence in sweet cherry and table grapes, Aloe Vera. gel-based edible coatings have been shown to prevent moisture loss and softening decrease, control respiration and senescence rate, delay oxidative browning and reduce microorganism proliferation in fruits such as sweet cherries, table grapes, nectarines and papaya, Siahe Mashhad sweet cherry fruit, Berry softening, berry drop, stem browning, and its desiccation, and also by fungal decay shorten Postharvest life of table grapes and thus reduce the market value, postharvest treatment of grape berries by salicylic acid and Aloe Vera gel and has potential for increasing storage life of table grapes and maintaining their quality, Fruit marketability, total phenolics content, vitamin C, catalase enzyme activity, decay index, weight loss were evaluated after 15 and 30 days. Treatment of fruit with 5 and 10?molL-1 nitric oxide and 33% Aloe vera gel significantly maintained fruit quality during 30 days of cold storage, in the case of Oranges, the following parameters were carried out during the course of storage: Total soluble solids, titratable acidity, weight loss, firmness, pH, vitamin C and sugar/ acid ratio. The final value for firmness for coated oranges was found to be 1781.25 + 118.30N, while that of uncoated oranges was 1531.25 + 185.53N. The pH was gradually increasing during the course of storage in the two treatments, whereas vitamin C was found to be decreasing in storage. The total soluble solid for coated oranges was 9.79+ 1.14% while that of uncoated oranges was found to be 9.34 + 0.06% at the end of storage. There was a linear decrease in titratable acidity during storage. It was found that the value obtained for coated oranges was higher than that of uncoated oranges which were obtained to be 1.14 + 0.07 at the end of storage. Converse to this was obtained for % weight losses in the two treatments. The weight loss for coated oranges was 29.20+ 0.55%, while that of uncoated oranges was 53.30+ 1.17% at the end of storage. A linear increase was observed in the sugar/acid ratio in the two treatments during storage with a higher value being recorded for uncoated oranges as 8.90 + 0.87, while a lower value was gotten for coated oranges as 7.43+ 0.34%. In the case of Papaya, the Aloe vera-coated fruits survived the storage period of 15 days at low temperatures whereas all the uncoated controls decayed within 10 days, freshly harvested papaya fruits were coated with Aloe gel/AG (50%), papaya leaf extract/PLE incorporated Aloe gel (1:1) and 2.5% chitosan. The coated and uncoated ed (control) fruits were stored at 30±3″C for 15 d. Physical (PLW, fruit size), chemical (pH, titratable acidity, and TSS), and sensory characteristics (color, taste & firmness); fruit disease index (FDI), and marketability were analyzed at regular intervals during the storage period. The coated fruits survived the storage period of 15 d, whereas, all the uncoated controls decayed within 10 d, coatings can be divided into proteins, lipids, and polysaccharides, alone or in combination. They act as barriers to moisture and oxygen during processing, handling, and storage and do not solely retard food deterioration but also enhance its safety due to their natural biocide activity or the incorporation of antimicrobial compounds. Edible coatings, apart from acting as a gas barrier, may serve to improve food safety by inhibition or delay of the growth of microorganisms, giving a further step to the concept of active packaging.
