The fruits were randomly distributed into groups of 18 fruit. For each treatment, three replicates were used. To prepare 500 ml of 0.5, 1.0 or 2.0% chitosan solution, 2.5, 5.0 or 10.0 g of chitosan (Crab20 shell chitosan, Sigma Chemicals) were dispersed in 400 ml of distilled water to which 25 ml of glacial acetic acid was added to dissolve the chitosan