Weight loss, firmness, and color. Controlling weight loss of fruits is one of the primary goals of EC technology. The application of ECs reduced (P < 0.05) weight loss in strawberries. As shown in Figure 1, weight loss increased (P < 0.05) as a function of storage time for both control and coated fruits. However, the increase was higher (P < 0.05) in control fruits (50.44 g/100 g). After 15 d of storage, the chitosan-EAC showed the most efficient effect in reducing weight loss (35.58 g/100 g) compared to control. These results showed less weight loss compared with values reported by Park and others (2005) and Velickova and others (2013), and higher weight loss compared with the values reported by Benhabiles and others (2013) for chitosan coatings. Moreover, EACs based on pectin and pullulan presented values of 40.31 and 38.98 g/100 g, respectively (P > 0.05). These results showed less weight loss compared with values reported by Eroglu (2014) for pullulan coatings. This difference may be due to the polymer concentration, and the effects of the antimicrobials incorporated into the formulations (Costa and others 2010).