| Sumario: | Postharvest brown rot, caused by Monilinia fructicola (G. Winter) Honey leads to significant economic losses for the Japanese plum (Prunus salicina Lindl.) industry worldwide. As part of non-polluting integrated disease management (NPIDM) strategies to replace the use of synthetic chemical fungicides, the development of antifungal edible coatings (AECs) has gained increasing importance in recent years. Several food additives or generally recognized as safe (GRAS) salts, essential oils, and natural extracts were selected in in vitro tests as potential effective antifungal ingredients of novel composite AECs formulated with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and beeswax (BW). The curative activity against brown rot of compatible and stable AECs was evaluated in in vivo trials with 'Friar,' 'Larry Ann,' and 'Black Gold' plums inoculated with M. fructicola 24 h before and incubated at 20 °C for 8–10 days. AECs formulated with the GRAS salts potassium sorbate (PS), sodium methylparaben (SMP), or sodium ethylparaben (SEP), as well as the natural compounds geraniol (GE), lemongrass (LG), and myrrh (MY) were the most effective, with 50–70% reductions in brown rot incidence and severity. In subsequent cold storage trials, the effectiveness and impact on fruit quality of selected AECs were assessed on coated 'Friar' and 'Angeleno' plums stored at 1 °C and 90% RH for 3–6 weeks, followed by a shelf-life period of 4–5 days at 20 °C. In conclusion, HPMC-BW AECs formulated with 0.1% SMP, 0.1% SEP, or 0.5% MY showed the greatest potential for plum postharvest preservation as significantly controlled brown rot and reduced fruit weight and firmness loss without negatively affecting other physicochemical and sensory quality attributes. These findings can contribute to the development of new NPIDM strategies to control brown rot while preserving plum postharvest quality, thus facilitating the access to zero-residue and/or organic plum production markets.
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