Alternative Approach for Extending Shelf Life of Orange Fruits and Prevent Deterioration by Penicillium digitatum the Cause of Green Mold

: One of the most serious problems of marketing orange fruits is postharvest diseases because of rapid fruits deterioration during handling, transportation and storage. Edible coating of fruits is used to improve their shelf life and quality. Recently, there has been increased interest in using essential oils, chitosan, wax, and yeast as an edible coating material through antifungal activity, moisture loss prevention, control respiratory rate and maturation development. In case of orange fruits, essential oils (clove, neem, jojoba, rosemary, mint, and aloe vera) at concentration 4% for each oil, chitosan solution at 1 gm /litter, yeast 11 gm /litter and wax coated fruits survived the storage period of 21 days at room temperature whereas all the uncoated controls decayed within 7-10 days. The results showed that all treatments maintained the quality properties of the orange fruit juice (T.S.S, pH, acidity). The best treatments for prolonging the shelf life of fruits and maintaining the weight of fruits during the storage period were wax, yeast, jojoba, clove, and neem oils. Thus, essential oils, wax, chitosan, yeast as edible coating in fruits, would be an innovation and interesting means for commercial application and alternative to the use of postharvest chemical treatments and extending of shelf life of fruits.