Development of advanced edible coatings for fruits

Edible coatings can provide an additional protective coating for fresh products and can also give the same effect as modified atmosphere storage in modifying internal gas composition. Recently, several edible coatings for preserving fruits such as oranges, apples, and grapefruits were successfully applied. But, in some cases, edible coatings were not successful. In fact, fruit quality was worse. The success of edible coatings for fresh products totally depends on the control of internal gas composition. This article is designed to help develop a systematic means of selecting edible coatings to maximize quality and shelf life of fresh fruits and vegetables. Methods will be introduced to select edible coatings based on their gas permeation properties relative to controlling internal gas composition of target products. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.