Lipid ester edible coating preserves postharvest qualities of soursop

Authors: LIN, YANAN - Former ARS Employee; SHU, CHANG - Former ARS Employee; Yusufali, Zahra; Sun, Xiuxiu

Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/21/2025
Publication Date: 8/29/2025
Citation: Lin, Y., Shu, C., Yusufali, Z.A., Sun, X.N. 2025. Lipid ester edible coating preserves postharvest qualities of soursop. HortScience. 60(10):1697-1698. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI18813-25.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI18813-25

Interpretive Summary: Soursop (Annona muricata L) is a tropical fruit with a short postharvest lifespan. It is prone to browning and reaching senescence after 5 days of room-temperature storage. This short shelf life reduces the viability of transportation and storage for fresh fruit markets. A lipid ester wax coating was applied for soursop postharvest preservation. The coating significantly increased total soluble solids (TSS)/titratable acidity (TA), total phenolic content (TPC), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) relative to control after 7 days storage at 20 °C. These preliminary results indicate that lipid-based coatings may extend the shelf life of tropical fruits such as soursop.

Technical Abstract: A lipid ester edible coating (Nature-CoteTM AVO) was applied to soursop to delay the onset of senescence in the tropical fruit soursop (Annona muricata). The total soluble solids (TSS)/titratable acidity (TA) of the treated fruit was 15% higher than that of the control. The ratio of the total phenolic content (TPC), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of the control to coated fruit were 0.77 and 0.76 respectively. Higher TPC and TAC reflected delayed fruit ripening in the coated fruits. The presence of the alcoholic compounds 1-hexanol and 3-hexen-1-ol indicated that the control fruit progressed to a further stage of fermentation compared to the treated fruit.