From these results, it is clear that chitosan coatings protect carrots against microbiological spoilage and may even enhance product hygiene from a public health perspective. Moreover, it is worth noting that microbial load values were slightly lower for coated samples that used a dipping application. The stronger antimicrobial effects associated with dipped coatings are most likely related to the thickness of the coating formed on products using this technique. Thicker coatings means that a higher amount of chitosan would have been applied to carrots using this application approach, and in turn, this would explain why the more potent antimicrobial activity was observed for dipped carrot samples