Aloe vera as a bio-preservative for keeping quality of horticultural products

Abstract

Postharvest periods are very challenging for marketing of horticultural commodities that are more perishable. Fruit decay is the major postharvest constraint responsible for negative return of horticultural commodities that is expressed by weight loss, color changes, softening and microbial spoilage. Different postharvest techniques like waxing, chemical coating and dip techniques are in practice to avoid the losses but due to the hazardous nature of chemicals to human health, the concept of bio preservation has been developed. Replacing of chemical preservation with bio preservation strategies are user friendly and has great potential if constraints in production and application techniques studied completely. Among the various bio preservative plants, Aloe vera plant has a great history for its medicinal use against wide range of ailments and fruit preservation. It prevents loss of moisture and firmness, control respiration rate and maturation development, delay oxidative browning, reduce microorganism proliferation and other parameters like titratable acidity, soluble solids content, ascorbic acid content, firmness and decay percentage also controls significantly.