Effects of chitosan-oil coating on blue mold disease and quality attributes of jujube fruits

The effects of chitosan coating enriched with cinnamon oil on blue mold disease and quality attributes were investigated. In the in vitro experiment, the results demonstrated that the antifungal activity against P. citrinum improved with increasing concentration of chitosan or cinnamon oil. In the in vivo study, chitosan-oil treatments significantly reduced fungal decay caused by P. citrinum and all compounds with cinnamon oil at 2.0% showed complete control of the growth of P. citrinum on wound-inoculated fruits. High chitosan-oil concentrations correlated with low disease incidence regardless of storage temperature. Treatments of chitosan-oil coating also inhibited the activity of polyphenol oxidase and maintained vitamin C and phenolic compounds in wounded jujube fruits. Results suggested that the effect of chitosan coating (1.0%) enriched with cinnamon oil (0.75%) on blue mold in jujube fruits may be associated with fungitoxic properties against the pathogen and the elicitation of biochemical defense responses in fruits.