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Paper Details


Title
Chitosan-integrated composite hydrophobic nanoemulsion coating for sustainable postharvest anthracnose management in mangoes

Author
, Subash C. B. Gopinath,

Email

Abstract

Postharvest mangoes are prone to anthracnose disease caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. While synthetic fungicides are effective, they pose environmental and health risks. This study introduces a Composite Hydrophobic Nanoemulsion (C-HyDEN) coating, containing fatty acids, terpenes, and polysaccharides, to improve postharvest disease control in fruits. Testing various Hydrophobic Deep Eutectic Solvent (HDES) formulations revealed that a Menthol: Thymol ratio of 1:1 (MT 1:1) was the most effective for the C-HyDEN formulation, with a pH of 6.17 ± 0.04 and the highest radical scavenging activity at 96.23 ± 0.19%. Further formulations, Chitosan + HyDEN and Konjac + HyDEN, were evaluated based on pH, antioxidant activity, viscosity, mean droplet diameter, Polydispersity Index (PDI), zeta potential and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Chitosan-HyDEN revealed a pH of 7.21 ± 0.11 and a zeta potential of -30.9 ± 7.5 mV, indicating good stability, and the highest antioxidant activity at 94.27 ± 0.29%. Compared with HyDEN, Antracol®, and the untreated control, the Chitosan–HyDEN coating extended the shelf life of ‘Harumanis’ mangoes during 21 days of storage (27 ± 2°C; 80% relative humidity), and better-preserved quality attributes, including weight loss, firmness, total soluble solids (TSS), colour, titratable acidity (TA), pH, and DPPH radical scavenging activity. This study suggests Chitosan-HyDEN as a promising, effective alternative to synthetic fungicides for preserving postharvest fruit.


Keywords

Journal or Conference Name
European Food Research and Technology

Publication Year
2026

Indexing
scopus