Edible Coatings for Fresh Fruits: Functional Roles, Optimization Strategies, and Analytical Perspectives

Fresh fruits are inherently prone to postharvest deterioration due to loss of moisture, respiration, mechanical damage, and microbial decay, making quality preservation a persistent challenge across fresh fruit supply chains. While conventional plastic packaging offers barrier protection and cost-efficiency, its environmental footprint, particularly poor biodegradability and increasing incidence of plastic waste necessitates a transition toward more sustainable alternatives. Among these, the use of edible coatings, primarily based on natural biopolymers, have emerged as a versatile strategy capable of modulating transpiration, gas exchange, microbial activity, and sensory quality while addressing environmental concerns. Unlike biodegradable plastic films, edible coatings directly interface with the fruit surface and offer multifunctional roles extending beyond passive protection. This review synthesizes recent advances in edible coatings for fresh fruits, with emphasis on material classes, functional performance, optimization strategies, and analytical evaluation methods. Key findings indicate that polysaccharide-based coatings provide adequate gas permeability but limited moisture resistance, while nanocomposite and multi-component systems enhance water-vapor barrier performance without compromising respiration compatibility. Incorporation of bioactive agents such as essential oils, nanoparticles, and plant extracts further extends shelf life through antimicrobial and antioxidant mechanisms, though formulation trade-offs and sensory constraints persist. The review also highlights critical limitations, including variability in barrier and mechanical properties, challenges in industrial-scale application, insufficient long-term validation under commercial cold-chain conditions, and regulatory uncertainty for active formulations. Future research priorities are identified, including mechanistic transport–physiology integration, standardized performance metrics, scalable application technologies, and life-cycle-informed material design. Addressing these gaps is essential for transitioning edible coatings from experimental sustainability concepts to robust, function-driven solutions for fresh-fruit preservation.