Postharvest application of gum arabic edible coating delays ripening and maintains quality of persimmon fruits during storage

Hydrocolloid gums are extensively used in food industry. Recently, hydrocolloid gums such as gum arabic have been widely researched as edible coatings to extend postharvest life of fruits and vegetables. Therefore, in this study, the efficacy of gum arabic (GA)-based edible coating was investigated for maintaining quality of persimmon fruits during ambient storage. Persimmon fruits were coated with 0 and 10% GA and stored at 20 ± 1°C and 80 ± 2% RH for 20 days. The 10% GA-coated fruits showed significantly lower weight loss, membrane leakage, H2O2, and malondialdehyde content than control. GA application suppressed increase in activities of polygalacturonase, pectin methylesterase, and cellulase enzymes. GA-coated fruits exhibited substantially higher superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, ascorbate peroxidase, and catalase activities. Moreover, coated persimmons showed markedly higher total phenolics, ascorbic acid, antioxidant activity, and titratable acidity, but reduced total carotenoids, total soluble solids, and ripening index throughout the storage. Practical applications Postharvest losses cause wastage of 40%–50% of globally produced fruits and vegetables. Among many postharvest procedures, such as irradiation, chemical treatment, heat treatment, controlled atmosphere storage; modified atmosphere packaging, etc., application of edible coating is one of the methods that reduce the spoilage of fresh fruits and vegetables. In this study, gum arabic (GA), which is already being used in processed food industry, has shown the potential to reduce fresh food losses in persimmons, a perishable climacteric fruit. GA coating extended the storage life of persimmons while maintaining quality attributes of the fruits. Using the finding of this study, application of GA-based edible coating to persimmons stored at ambient conditions can prevent spoilage of persimmons, save energy bills of storing persimmons at low temperatures, and increase marketing window for the fruit.