Edible coatings application for postharvest fruits preservation: bibliometric trends, material design, physiological mechanisms, and safety perspectives

Fresh fruits play a vital role in ensuring food and nutritional security, while also making significant contributions to global trade. However, due to their highly perishable nature, they are susceptible to postharvest losses during storage, transportation, and marketing. Edible coatings (ECs) and edible films are effective postharvest preservation technologies for retarding senescence and preserving fruit quality. This review provides a comprehensive update on recent developments in ECs and films aimed at reducing postharvest losses in fresh fruits. These coatings are formulated using biopolymers, including polysaccharides, proteins, and lipids, along with food-grade additives. The review discusses how ECs modulate postharvest physiology and quality deterioration in fruits by regulating moisture loss, gas exchange, respiration, ethylene production, oxidative stress, microbial decay, chilling injury, and firmness retention. Additionally, this review addresses critical aspects of ECs, including their sources and classification, material design, mechanisms of action, application techniques, functional performance, bioactive incorporation, controlled release behavior, nano-enabled delivery systems, and safety considerations. This review integrates bibliometric evidence with a critical synthesis of coating materials, physiological mechanisms, bioactive incorporation, postharvest responses, and safety perspectives. Special attention is given to underexplored areas such as mucilage-based coatings, lactic acid bacteria/postbiotic systems, nano-enabled composite coatings, pectin esterification-dependent film properties, and coating safety and regulatory challenges. Future research should focus on improving the cost, scalability, and performance of plant-based biopolymer composites. Application of advanced technologies such as Industry 4.0 can support efficiency of production and promote the development of sustainable food coating materials.