Potential applications and limitations of edible coatings for maintaining tomato quality and shelf life

Tomato is among the most commercialised fruits due to its high nutritional value and health-promoting compounds. However, tomatoes have a short shelf life plastic packaging materials are used mitigate perishability. Nevertheless, exhaustion of nonrenewable natural resources produce plastics demand for eco-friendly entailed search other alternatives. Edible coatings emerged as an effective environmentally friendly alternative protect from physical chemical deterioration, microbial spoilage. coating can be produced raw such lipids, proteins polysaccharides. The aim this review was assess recent scientific literature regarding application edible in maintaining quality enhancing tomatoes. This has collected analysed studies about tomato. available indicated that different potential maintain physico-chemical sensory qualities improve Despite several benefits, poor barrier properties, some impart undesirable flavour on produce. suggests blending with essential oil active compounds using nanotechnologies could overcome limitations coatings.