Use ofThymus vulgarisEssential Oil to Improve the Safety and Shelf-life of Iranian Table Grape

There is increasing public concern over the level of pesticide residues in food. Naturally occurring biologically active compounds from plants are generally assumed to be more acceptable and less hazardous than synthetic compounds. Therefore Thymus vulgaris essential oil was applied in ‘Fakhri’ grape cultivar at six concentrations (0, 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 μll-1) in water. Quality characteristics (pH, decay, vitamin C, reducing sugars, weight loss, berry abscission, dehydration of rachis, berry cracking and sensory analyses) were evaluated. The results showed that treated fruits with essential oil had lower decay percentage, vitamin C, weight loss, berry dehydration, berry abscission, cracking and higher pH, reducing sugars and storage quality compared to control. As a general result, essential oil treatment caused lower decay incident and longer storability.