In recent years, the use of edible coatings has emerged as a new,
effective, and environmental-friendly alternative mean to extend
the shelf life of many products, including fresh-cut fruit and
vegetables, by providing a barrier to water loss and gas exchange.
Furthermore, their functional properties may be enhanced by the
addition of food ingredients, such as antioxidants and antimicro-
bials, to enhance appearance, integrity and microbial safety,
among others (Valencia-Chamorro et al., 2011b). The basic
ingredients of edible coatings are proteins, polysaccharides and
lipids; whereas, active ingredients include other generally
regarded as safe compounds (GRAS) and food-grade additives to
meet international regulations that considers edible coatings as
part of the food (EU Directive 98/72/EC, 1998; US FDA, 2006). In
previous research works by our group, a pectin-based edible
coating containing 10 g kg1 citric acid (CA) and 10 g kg1 calcium
chloride (CaCl2) proved effective among different polysaccharide
coatings to control the enzymatic browning of fresh-cut ‘Rojo
Brillante’ persimmon (unpublished data). This effect was attributed
to the capability of pectin to form strong insoluble polymers
upon the reaction with multivalent metal cations like calcium
(Oms-Oliu et al., 2008a).