3.3. Evaluation of strawberry quality
3.3.1. Fruit decay
The early signs of mold development in strawberries (control) appeared after one day of storage. Both the control and samples coated with SA had more decayed berries after the first day of storage than that of other treatments (Fig. 2). However, SA coatings significantly reduced the incidence of fungal decay during the storage period compared to the control. At the end of 5 d storage, 83% of control fruit were infected by molds, while the decay incidence of Lau and Lau + SA + CS compared with the control group was less than 50% and 25%, respectively.