Research and Application of Chitosan Coatings in Fruits and Vegetables Storage and Preservation
LIU Chenghong
ZHANG Shun
HUANG Wen
ZHANG Xiaoyan
YANG Hailong
FU Shiyu
ZHAN Lijuan
Abstract：Fresh fruits and vegetables,due to their high water content and vigorous respiratory metabolism,are highly prone to quality decline and spoilage after harvest.As the world's largest producer and consumer of fruits and vegetables,China has a persistently high post-harvest loss rate of fruits and vegetables.The development of efficient and safe preservation technology has become an urgent need for the industry.Coating preservation technology is a new food preservation method,which can effectively maintain the quality of fresh fruits and vegetables and extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables.Chitosan,as a natural biopolymer,is regarded as the most promising preservation coating material due to its wide source,degradability and biosafety,as well as excellent film forming property,antibacterial activity and biocompatibility.A systematic review is conducted on the basic characteristics of chitosan and the preparation methods of coatings.The research and application of chitosan coatings in the field of fruit and vegetable preservation are described in detail.The preservation effect of chitosan coatings on fruits and vegetables is discussed from the perspectives of appearance quality,nutrients,flavor substances and shelf life,and mechanism of preservation and the key factors affecting the preservation efficiency are summarized.Finally,the preservative chitosan coating technical bottlenecks and future development directions are pointed out,with the expectation of providing theoretical references for the in-depth research and industrial application of this technology.
Keywords：ChitosanCoatingStorage and preservation of fruits and vegetablesEffect evaluationPreservation mechanismInfluencing factor
Publication Date：2025-07-15
Online Publishing Date：2026-09-12(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：11( 1-11 )