The Effects of a Gum Arabic-Based Edible Coating on Guava Fruit Characteristics during Storage

Guava is a nutritious fruit that has perishable behavior during storage. We aimed to determine the influences of some edible coatings (namely, cactus pear stem (10%), moringa (10%), and henna leaf (3%) extracts incorporated with gum Arabic (10%)), on the guava fruits' properties when stored under ambient and refrigeration temperatures for 7, 14, and 21 days. The results revealed that the coating with gum Arabic (10%) only, or combined with the natural plant extracts, exhibited a significant reduction in weight loss, decay, and rot ratio. Meanwhile, there were notable increases in marketability. Moreover, among all tested treatments, the application of gum Arabic (10%) + moringa extract (10%) was the superior treatment for most studied parameters, and exhibited for the highest values for maintaining firmness, total soluble solids, total sugars, and total antioxidant activity. Overall, it was suggested that coating guava with 10% gum Arabic combined with other plant extracts could maintain the postharvest storage quality of the cold-storage guava.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the effects of edible coatings on the properties of guava fruits during storage. The results showed that coating with gum Arabic (10%), either alone or combined with plant extracts, significantly reduced weight loss, decay, and rot ratio, and improved the marketability of the fruits. Among all tested treatments, gum Arabic (10%) + moringa extract (10%) exhibited the highest values for maintaining firmness, total soluble solids, total sugars, and total antioxidant activity.