Increasing the shelf life and preserving of the quality of apple fruit ̔ Golab̕ using an ‎edible coating of Aloe vera gel and essential oil of Shirazi thyme

Golab apple is a commercial cultivar of Iran, has short post-harvest life due to its high metabolic activity and browning caused by mechanical damage. The experiment was done in factorial based on a completely randomized design with four replications. The first factor was coating in five levels, coating of Aloe vera gel 30% and 60% v/v in combination with Shirazi thyme essential oil with a concentration of 120 µll-1 andwithout any cover) and the second facor was storage duratiom in five levels (0, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days after havesting). Results indicated that the coating of 60% Aloe vera gel with essential oil of Shirazi thyme had a significant effect on reducing weight loss and ripening index, so that it decreased the weight loss and ripening index of 3.8% and 31.1% in comparison with control, respectively. Also, the mentioned treatments, leading to retained free-radical scavenging and total phenol accumulation of fruit treated with Aloe vera enriched with essential of Shirazi thyme. The coated apples with Aloe vera gel 60% and also Aloe vera gel 60%+Shirazi thyme essential oil increased the fruit firmness by 55.5% and 62/2%, respectively, compared to control. The results of the sensory evaluation indicated that the coating of Aloe vera gel in combination with the essential oil of Shirazi thyme did not have any negative effect on the taste and appearance of apple (cv. Golab).