Discussion
Mangosteen fruit is senescence is characterized by a rapid increase in pericarp hardening, browning and wilting in the stem end and calyx; together with increased sensitivity to microbial infection, all of which reduce fruit quality. In our previous studies, we found that 1-MCP+LDPE could maintain the quality of mangosteen fruit by delaying the ripening process and also the onset of disease development. In this study, we used ES-MCO coating combined with LDPE+1-MCP to maintain quality and to control the fruit rot development. The results showed that the treaments of ES-MCO+LDPE+1-MCP and carbendazim+LDPE+1-MCP reduced ethylene production; and suppressed changes in the TSS/TA ratio, thus confirming that the ripening processes of mangosteen fruit could be delayed by ES-MCO+LDPE+1-MCP or by carbendazim+LDPE+1-MCP. These overall results may be related to the fact that 1-MCP is an effective inhibitor of ethylene action, delaying a number of genes associated with the senescence and ripening processes (Watkins, 2006). In addition, the results showed that both of the 2% ES-MCO+LDPE+1-MCP and the carbendazim+LDPE+1-MCP combination helped to delay the development of changes in skin color; the onset of browning and shrinkage of both the stem end and the calyx, changes in fruit firmness and the reduction in weight loss compared to the controls. These effects may be related to the effect of the skin coating combined with LDPE+1-MCP within the fruit to prevent chlorophyll degradation, maintain the level of lignin content and as well as providing a barrier to the loss of water from the fruit when there is no packaging (Li et al., 2013; Bayogan and Delgado, 2013; Accaseavorn et al., 2006). Hence, ES-MCO+LDPE+1-MCP and