Application of Chitosan Based Coating in Fruit and Vegetable Preservation: A Review

Edible coating is beneficial to the shelf life of postharvest fruit and vegetable. Chitosan-based coating was concerned in recent years owing to its non-toxic, biodegradable, and biocompatible properties. In view of the deficiency of single chitosan coating, there are two main methods to improve the property of chitosan-based coating at present. One method is that the chitosan were combined with organic compounds, inorganic compound, or biological control agents. The other method is that single chitosan coating was applied with non-coating remedies including heat treatment, hypobaric treatment, gas fumigation, and modified atmosphere packaging. After applying improved chitosan-based coating, the preserving effects were increased in most of the cases compared with single chitosan coating.