Sustainable Solutions for Postharvest Berry Protection: Natural Edible Coatings

Berries, a diverse group of small and colorful fruits, constitute a crucial food of a balanced diet. However, they are fruits that spoil quickly, very prone to external threats like pathogens and losses due to mishandling. Despite the use of preservation strategies and packing in plastic containers, current postharvest losses of berries can be up to 50% depending on the type of berry. This enormous loss has prompted research into more effective preservation methods. Among current storage techniques, the use of edible coatings (EC) has shown great potential in different industries, within the food industry, their effects have already been studied in berries, showing great preservation capacity to combat problems such as water loss, which prevents weight loss and softening of berries and also slows microbial growth, reducing postharvest losses of berries. This review compiles the available studies on the application of EC on berries, considering future trends including the addition of active substances that improve the protection capacity of EC, regulatory aspects, and future considerations for the possible application of these novel packaging systems in a real market environment.