Fresh-cut fruits and vegetables are largely requested by consumers. Fresh-sliced apples, however, rapidly undergo browning and they become susceptible to the accumulation of aerobic bacteria, yeast and molds.

Hye-Yeon Song and colleagues, Chungnam National University, Republic of Korea, revealed that an edible gel obtained from Aloe vera, a plant largely used in alternative medicine, offers a good solution for these problems. The researchers coated apple slices with an Aloe vera gel solution containing 0.5 % of the antioxidant cystein and they demonstrated that this treatment delays cut apple’s browning. The Aloe vera coating, moreover, reduced the microbiological spoilage of fresh-cut apples as it decreased the contamination of aerobic bacteria, yeasts, and mold. In addition, apple slices coated with Aloe vera did not undergo weight loss but kept their firmness, and, therefore, maintained their sensory quality.

Thus, Aloe vera gel coatings are a useful strategy to preserve the quality of fresh-cut apples during storage.

• Quality Change of Apple Slices Coated withAloe vera Gel during Storage,
  Hye-Yeon Song, Wan-Shin Jo, Nak-Bum Song, Sea C. Min, Kyung Bin Song,
  J. Food Sci. 2013, 78, C817–C822.
  DOI: 10.1111/1750-3841.12141