The effects of coating systems on the native mycoflora of cantaloupes
during room temperature storage for 5 days are shown in
Fig. 4. Coating treatments with CBO and CBO + SBO reduced the yeast
and mold counts to significantly greater extent (ca. 1.8 and 2.6 log
CFU/cm2 lower, respectively) than with the control and alginate only
treatments. The alginate coating actually had a slight increase in yeast
and mold counts possibly due to the increased moisture content on
the surface, as discussed above. The results suggest that coatings with
CBO are effective against the native mycoflora on cantaloupes and
hence can be used to preserve the quality of cantaloupes.