The researchers, working at State University of Bangladesh in Dhaka, obtained fully ripe Ashwina mangoes from a local market during the mid-April to mid-June 2025 season and cut them into uniform two-centimeter cubes. They then prepared six coating formulations: an untreated control, pure aloe vera gel, pure mixed flower honey, and three blends mixing the two ingredients in ratios of 50:50, 75:25, and 25:75. Each solution was built on a common film-forming base of 1% glycerol as a plasticizer, 1.5% carboxymethyl cellulose as a thickening film former, 1% acetic acid to lower pH and inhibit browning enzymes, and 2% methanol to help disperse honey’s bioactive compounds. The mango cubes were dipped for two minutes, dried for twenty minutes, sealed in low-density polyethylene bags, and stored at just above 4 degrees Celsius with 85% relative humidity for twenty days, with measurements taken every five days.

The experimental design was unusually rigorous for a food preservation study. Three hundred fifty fruits were divided across six treatments with three independent biological replicates each, and an independent researcher assigned treatments at random to ensure blinding. The team tracked moisture loss, firmness, color, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, pH, vitamin C, total polyphenols, total flavonoids, microbial counts, and visible spoilage. Statistical analysis using two-way ANOVA and post hoc tests confirmed that both the coating formulation and storage time, as well as their interaction, significantly shaped nearly every quality attribute measured.

The clearest winner was the pure aloe vera coating. By day 20, uncoated control cubes had lost 27.80% of their moisture, while those coated with 100% aloe vera lost only 14.28%, a relative reduction of nearly half. The mechanism is physical rather than mysterious: the aloe polysaccharides form a semi-permeable film on the cut surface that restricts water vapor escape and gas exchange, suppressing respiration and transpiration simultaneously. Because moisture loss drives softening, shrinkage, and metabolic stress in cut fruit, this single effect cascades through nearly every other quality measure.

Firmness told the same story. Coated mangoes remained significantly firmer than uncoated ones throughout storage, and the pure aloe vera treatment retained more than 90% of its initial firmness by day 20, while the control had softened dramatically. The coating appears to slow the enzymatic breakdown of pectin and hemicellulose, the cell wall components responsible for the transition from crisp to mushy. Interestingly, the 75% aloe vera plus 25% honey blend was the second-best performer at around 71% firmness retention, but formulations richer in honey consistently underperformed pure aloe vera.

That underperformance is the study’s most provocative finding. The researchers had hypothesized that honey’s renowned antimicrobial and antioxidant properties would synergistically enhance aloe vera’s barrier. Instead, the data suggest the opposite: honey’s hygroscopic nature and high concentration of reducing sugars likely increase surface water activity and weaken the polysaccharide film matrix, diluting rather than reinforcing aloe vera’s protective capacity. The authors conclude that the assumption that more bioactive ingredients yield better preservation simply does not hold for fresh-cut mango under refrigeration, a caution worth heeding in a field eager to stack natural additives.

Nutritional preservation was equally impressive. Vitamin C declined in all samples, but the uncoated control lost approximately 23.8 milligrams per 100 grams by day 20, while the aloe vera-coated cubes lost only 7.91 milligrams, thanks to the film’s low oxygen permeability limiting ascorbic acid oxidation. Total phenolic content fell by 51.68% in the control but by only 22.51% in the honey-coated sample, with intermediate losses in the other treatments. Flavonoids followed a parallel pattern, dropping by more than half in untreated fruit while coated samples retained substantially more of these antioxidant compounds that scavenge reactive oxygen species during senescence.

Microbiology sealed the case. Total viable bacterial counts in the uncoated control surged from 1.79 times ten cubed to 5.27 times ten to the sixth colony-forming units per gram over twenty days, a nearly three-thousand-fold increase, while all coated treatments suppressed growth dramatically, with pure aloe vera keeping counts lowest throughout. Mold and yeast counts told the same story, reaching 92.33 times ten per gram in the control versus 33 in the aloe vera group. Visually, the control fruit was dark brown, off-flavored, and heavily infected with fungus by day 20, while coated samples remained yellowish and acceptable considerably longer. Pearson correlation analysis reinforced the picture, revealing strong negative relationships between moisture loss and firmness, phenolics, and flavonoids, indicating that dehydration is the central driver of quality collapse.

The study’s limitations are honest and worth noting. It tested a single local mango variety under one refrigeration condition at laboratory scale, without trained sensory panels, commercial processing trials, or cost analysis, and it did not directly measure film thickness or gas permeability. Even so, the implications are substantial. Bangladesh produced over 1.87 million metric tons of mango in 2025, and postharvest losses in climacteric fruits remain a major source of food waste and associated carbon emissions worldwide. An edible, biodegradable coating made from locally sourced aloe vera and honey offers a clean-label alternative to synthetic preservatives, and the finding that pure aloe vera outperforms the blends provides a clear, evidence-based formulation guideline. Future work on encapsulating active compounds and extending the approach to papayas, guavas, and other climacteric fruits could push this humble plant gel from kitchen remedy to industrial shelf-life technology.

Subject of Research: Edible aloe vera and honey coatings for extending the shelf life and quality of refrigerated fresh-cut mango

Article Title: Aloe vera–Honey Edible Coating Prolongs Shelf Life and Preserves Quality of Refrigerated Fresh‐Cut Mango (Mangifera indica)

Article References: Khatun, T., & Asaduzzaman, M. (2026). Aloe vera –Honey Edible Coating Prolongs Shelf Life and Preserves Quality of Refrigerated Fresh‐Cut Mango ( Mangifera indica ). Food Science & Nutrition, 14(10), Article e72447. https://doi.org/10.1002/fsn3.72447

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1002/fsn3.72447

Keywords: aloe vera, honey, edible coating, fresh-cut mango, shelf life, food preservation, postharvest quality, antioxidants, microbial growth, refrigerated storage, moisture loss, firmness

The study, published in Food Chemistry: X, focused on Nam Dok Mai, one of Thailand’s most important commercial mango cultivars and a significant export to Singapore, China, Malaysia, and Japan. Fresh-cut mango deteriorates through three intertwined processes: enzymatic browning, tissue softening, and microbial growth, with yeasts being a particular problem. Browning arises when the enzyme polyphenol oxidase, or PPO, oxidizes phenolic compounds in the damaged tissue, generating brown pigments on the cut surface. The researchers set out to test whether two natural agents with complementary modes of action could tackle these problems simultaneously, offering an eco-friendly alternative to synthetic antibrowning chemicals such as sulfites.

The first ingredient, pineapple core extract, was prepared from Smooth Cayenne pineapple fruit selected at 16 to 18 percent total soluble solids. The cores were blended, squeezed, filtered, and pasteurized at 70 degrees Celsius for 10 seconds before being diluted to a 50 percent solution. Notably, previous work by the same research group had shown that the core of the pineapple, often discarded as waste, is actually more effective at inhibiting browning than the pulp, likely because of its higher bromelain activity. Bromelain is a sulfhydryl protease, a protein-digesting enzyme that has been shown to suppress enzymatic browning, and pineapple also contains organic acids, chiefly citric and malic acids, along with sulfur-containing amino acids and phenolic compounds, all of which contribute to antibrowning and antioxidant activity.

The second ingredient, fresh Aloe vera gel from one-year-old Barbadensis leaves, was similarly blended, filtered, and pasteurized. Aloe vera has earned a reputation in postharvest science as an edible coating: when applied to cut produce, its polysaccharides form a semi-permeable film that limits oxygen diffusion to the surface, reduces moisture loss, and modulates oxidative metabolism. The gel also carries bioactive compounds, including anthraquinones and saponins, with documented antibacterial and antifungal properties. Ripe mangoes, harvested 85 days after anthesis and ripened uniformly with calcium carbide fumigation, were peeled, cut into six-centimeter pieces, and immersed for two minutes in one of three treatment solutions: 50 percent pineapple core extract, 50 percent Aloe vera gel, or a 1:1 mixture of the two. Untreated slices served as the control, and all samples were stored in clear PET trays at 4 degrees Celsius for six days.

The visual results were striking. After just two days of storage, obvious browning had developed on the untreated control slices, while the Aloe vera-treated samples showed slight discoloration. In contrast, the slices dipped in pineapple core extract or the combined treatment showed no visible browning at all. By day six, the control and Aloe vera-only samples were extensively browned, whereas the pineapple-treated and combined-treatment slices displayed only slight browning. Quantitative measurements backed up what the photographs showed: browning intensity, measured as absorbance of ethanol extracts at 420 nanometers, rose steadily in all samples but remained lowest in the pineapple-containing treatments. A panel of fifty tasters scored browning severity on a nine-point scale, and by day six the control and Aloe vera samples had crossed the acceptability threshold of a score above five, while the pineapple core extract and combined treatments remained at approximately 2.8, comfortably within the acceptable range.

Colorimetry told a consistent story. Surface lightness, the L* value, dropped sharply in the control during the first two days, while the treated slices stayed significantly brighter. On day four, the combined treatment achieved the highest L* value of all groups, and by the end of storage the pineapple-containing samples retained significantly better lightness than the control or Aloe vera alone. Hue angles stayed within the range of 88 to 95 degrees, confirming that the slices kept their characteristic yellow color, and the combined treatment held chroma, a measure of color saturation, significantly higher than the control in later storage while maintaining the smallest overall color difference from the initial sample. The researchers attribute the dominant antibrowning effect to the pineapple extract, whose organic acids lower tissue pH and directly suppress PPO activity, while bromelain and sulfur-containing compounds add further inhibition; the Aloe vera layer contributes by physically restricting oxygen delivery to the cut surface.

Texture proved to be where the combination genuinely outperformed either ingredient alone. Firmness declined in all samples over the six days, as expected, since softening in mango is driven by the enzymatic degradation of pectic polysaccharides in the cell wall and by the loss of cell membrane integrity. But from day two onward, the combined treatment consistently maintained significantly higher firmness than every other group, including the individual treatments, while the control was the softest. The authors propose two mechanisms for this synergy. Both pineapple and Aloe vera are rich in calcium, which can cross-link demethylated pectin chains into calcium pectate, strengthening cell-to-cell adhesion and stabilizing the wall. Meanwhile, the Aloe vera coating restricts oxygen diffusion, reducing oxidative stress and membrane lipid peroxidation, which was reflected in lower accumulation of malondialdehyde, a standard marker of membrane damage, in all treated samples compared with the control. Importantly, neither total soluble solids nor titratable acidity changed significantly in any treatment, meaning the dips preserved the fruit’s balance of sweetness and acidity untouched.

On the microbiological front, the roles reversed. Aloe vera immersion proved more effective than pineapple core extract at suppressing total aerobic bacteria, coliform bacteria, and yeasts and moulds, an effect credited to its anthraquinones, saponins, and barrier-forming polysaccharides. Coliform bacteria appeared in the control, pineapple, and combined treatments after four days but were not detected in the Aloe vera samples until day six, and Aloe vera consistently maintained the lowest yeast and mould counts. Throughout the entire storage period, all samples stayed within the microbiological guideline limits for ready-to-eat foods set by the Thai Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Medical Sciences, with total aerobic bacteria below 6 log10 colony-forming units per gram and yeasts and moulds below 4. The combined treatment delayed bacterial proliferation effectively, though the data showed no synergistic antimicrobial interaction beyond what Aloe vera achieved on its own.

To integrate all these threads, the researchers applied principal component analysis to the full dataset of quality attributes. The first two principal components captured 62.2 percent of the total variance, and the resulting biplot cleanly separated the untreated control, which clustered with microbial growth, browning enzymes, lipid peroxidation, and color loss, from all treated samples. The combined treatment sat closest to the desirable attributes of hue angle, chroma, and acidity, and farthest from the deterioration-related variables, confirming its status as the strongest overall preservative strategy. The authors are candid about the study’s limits: sensory attributes such as flavor and aroma, respiration rate, weight loss, and the precise chemical composition of the extracts were not measured, and future work should characterize the bioactive compounds involved. Even so, the message is compelling. Two agricultural byproducts and garden plants, one usually thrown away and the other grown in backyard pots, together kept one of the world’s favorite tropical fruits fresh, firm, golden, and safe for twice its usual shelf life, pointing toward a future where the freshest-cut fruit on the shelf owes its glow to nothing more exotic than pineapple and aloe.

Subject of Research: Natural antibrowning and antimicrobial preservation of fresh-cut mango using pineapple core extract and Aloe vera gel

Article Title: Combined application of pineapple core extract and Aloe vera gel for browning inhibition and quality preservation of fresh-cut ‘Nam Dok Mai’ mangoes

Article References: Keawmanee, N., Techavuthiporn, C., Suo, X., Boonyaritthongchai, P., & Supapvanich, S. (2026). Combined application of pineapple core extract and Aloe vera gel for browning inhibition and quality preservation of fresh-cut ‘Nam Dok Mai’ mangoes. Food Chemistry: X, Article 104571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fochx.2026.104571

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1016/j.fochx.2026.104571

Keywords: fresh-cut mango, pineapple core extract, Aloe vera gel, enzymatic browning, polyphenol oxidase, bromelain, edible coating, food preservation, postharvest quality, Nam Dok Mai, food microbiology, natural preservatives

The motivation behind the work reflects two converging pressures in the global food industry. First, demand for halal-certified ingredients is rising sharply, particularly in Muslim-majority countries where mammalian gelatin derived from pig skin or non-halal cattle sources is unacceptable. Second, gelatin production worldwide, estimated at between 3.75 and 4 million metric tons annually, still relies overwhelmingly on mammalian raw materials, with non-mammalian sources accounting for only about 2 percent of total output. Poultry by-products alone generate roughly 9.5 million tons of material each year that could serve as alternative gelatin feedstock, and fish processing waste, including scales, represents a similarly underutilized reservoir of collagen suitable for extraction. By sourcing gelatin from Rohu fish scales collected at local fish markets in Faisalabad, the researchers turned a low-value by-product into a functional food ingredient.

Ajwain brings its own biochemical arsenal to the coating. The seeds of this Apiaceae family spice contain 2 to 4 percent essential oil, with thymol as the dominant active compound, alongside p-cymene, gamma-terpinene, and alpha- and beta-pinene. The seeds also carry appreciable quantities of phenolics, flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, and saponins, plus minerals such as calcium, iron, and phosphorus. Traditionally used against gastrointestinal and respiratory ailments, ajwain exhibits well-documented antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antihypertensive properties. Embedding such bioactive compounds in an edible coating delivers them directly to the food surface, the site where oxidation and microbial contamination typically begin, rather than dispersing them throughout the bulk of the product where they are less effective.

The experimental design was thorough. Fish scales were washed, treated with 1 percent food-grade acetic acid for 40 minutes to swell the collagen, and then extracted in distilled water at a 1:7 ratio in a 60 degree Celsius water bath for two hours. The filtrate was concentrated, dried, and ground into gelatin powder. Ajwain seeds were soaked overnight in distilled water, ground, and filtered through muslin cloth to yield the aqueous extract. Fresh chicken mince was marinated, shaped into nuggets, coated with one of six AE-FSG combinations ranging from 1 percent ajwain with 2 percent gelatin up to 2 percent ajwain with 3 percent gelatin, and deep-fried. Nuggets were then stored refrigerated for 14 days and sampled at days 0, 3, 7, and 14.

Antioxidant performance was assessed using the DPPH radical scavenging assay and total phenolic content measured by the Folin-Ciocalteu method. At day 0, nuggets coated with AE2% plus FSG3% recorded the highest radical scavenging activity and the highest phenolic content, while the uncoated control recorded the lowest. Although antioxidant capacity declined in all samples over storage, a pattern attributed to the depletion of antioxidant compounds through oxidative reactions, the coated nuggets maintained significantly higher DPPH values and phenolic levels than controls throughout the trial. The phenolic compounds contributed by ajwain extract, sheltered within the gelatin film matrix, degraded more slowly than they would in an unprotected system, effectively extending the product’s intrinsic antioxidant defenses.

Lipid oxidation, the principal chemical culprit behind rancidity in cooked meat, was tracked with two complementary assays: thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), which quantify malonaldehyde as a marker of secondary oxidation, and peroxide value (POV), which measures lipid hydroperoxides formed during primary oxidation. Both indicators rose steadily in all samples during refrigeration, but coated nuggets, and especially the AE2% plus FSG3% group, showed significantly lower TBARS and POV values at every interval. The authors attribute this dual protection to the antioxidant constituents of ajwain, which interrupt the free radical chain reactions driving peroxide formation, and to the oxygen-barrier behavior of the gelatin film, which physically limits oxygen diffusion to the nugget surface. Similar findings have been reported for pomegranate peel, quinoa flour, and black cumin coatings in other meat systems.

Microbiological results were equally striking. Total aerobic counts rose with storage time in all samples, but uncoated controls consistently carried the highest microbial loads while the AE2% plus FSG3% nuggets carried the lowest. Coliform bacteria, a hygiene indicator group, were either undetectable or present at very low levels in the best-coated samples early in storage and remained significantly below control levels throughout. The effect likely stems from two mechanisms working in tandem: the direct antimicrobial action of thymol and other ajwain phenolics against bacterial membranes and metabolic enzymes, and the gelatin film’s suppression of oxygen and moisture transfer across the nugget surface, conditions that otherwise favor bacterial proliferation.

Color and sensory analyses confirmed the practical value of the coating. Hunter colorimeter readings showed that coated nuggets retained higher L* lightness, a* redness, and b* yellowness values than controls, indicating better color stability over the two-week period, with the natural pigments of ajwain contributing to the yellow component. A trained 15-member sensory panel, using a nine-point hedonic scale after formal training sessions, rated coated nuggets significantly higher than uncoated ones for appearance, texture, odor, taste, and overall acceptability, with the advantage persisting across the entire storage trial. Improved texture and odor scores align with the reduced lipid oxidation and microbial growth, both of which are major drivers of off-flavor and surface deterioration in fried chicken products.

The statistical analysis, a two-way ANOVA with treatment and storage day as fixed factors followed by Fisher’s LSD post-hoc comparisons, confirmed that treatment and time effects were significant at p < 0.05 for every parameter measured, with all experiments run in triplicate. This rigor strengthens the central conclusion that coating formulation, not random batch variation, drove the observed differences. The study also situates itself within a growing literature on bioactive edible coatings, including chitosan-gelatin-starch composites with bitter orange peel extract, aloe vera coatings, and citrus honey treatments, all of which support the concept that surface-delivered natural preservatives can rival or exceed conventional synthetic additives in maintaining meat quality.

The broader implications extend beyond chicken nuggets. The work demonstrates a circular-economy pathway in which fish processing waste is upgraded into a halal gelatin carrier, paired with a locally grown medicinal spice, and deployed as an active packaging layer for a globally popular convenience food. For processors, this could translate into longer refrigerated shelf life, reduced food waste, cleaner ingredient labels free of synthetic antioxidants such as BHT, and access to halal-sensitive markets. For consumers, it promises nuggets that stay safer, tastier, and more visually appealing for up to two weeks in the refrigerator. While scale-up questions remain, including coating application at industrial speeds and cost optimization of gelatin extraction, the study provides compelling evidence that fish scale gelatin fortified with 2 percent ajwain extract is an effective, natural, and culturally appropriate preservation technology for modern meat products.

Subject of Research: Fish gelatin and ajwain extract edible coatings for extending the shelf life and quality of chicken nuggets

Article Title: Natural fish gelatin-ajwain edible coatings improve shelf life and quality of chicken nuggets

Article References: Siddiq, M., Bilal, M., Husnain, G., Shabbir, A., Zeeshan, M., Bajwa, M. A., Ramadan, M. F., & Arshad, M. S. (2026). Natural fish gelatin-ajwain edible coatings improve shelf life and quality of chicken nuggets. Food Science of Animal Resources, 46(1), Article 89. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44463-026-00093-6

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s44463-026-00093-6

Keywords: edible coating, fish gelatin, ajwain, chicken nuggets, shelf life, lipid oxidation, antioxidant activity, microbial stability, food safety, halal ingredients, sensory quality, meat preservation