Experimental study demonstrates reduced soft rot lesion expansion in harvested kiwifruit coated with a pterostilbene complex, indicating a viable bio-based postharvest preservation strategy.
Kiwifruit soft rot, primarily caused by Botryosphaeria dothidea , is a destructive postharvest disease characterized by substantial economic losses. To address this issue, a novel multifunctional coating was formulated with a chitosan matrix and a citric acid-betaine natural deep eutectic solvent (NADES) loaded with a pterostilbene (PTE)/methyl-β-cyclodextrin (M-β-CD) inclusion complex (IC). Synergistic electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions drive the insertion of PTE into the wider rim of the M-β-CD cavity, as revealed by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, 1 H NMR and molecular docking. The formation of the IC enhanced the aqueous solubility of PTE by 618 times, reaching 48.76 mg/mL. Furthermore, by promoting a more ordered alignment of chitosan chains, the NADES acted as effective plasticizers, resulting in a high coating elongation at break of 173.18 ± 3.16 %. A multifunctional coating was obtained with the addition of 1.2 % IC, integrating excellent radical scavenging capacity, enhanced thermal stability, and effective UV-blocking properties. Applied to kiwifruit soft rot control, the composite coating effectively reduced lesion expansion compared with control group. This study presented a viable approach to functionalizing bio-based packaging materials via NADES and IC for improved postharvest management.
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Zhu et al. (2026) studied this question.
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