Introduction

EDIBLE coatings have been used on fruits and vegetables since the twelfthcentury in China (Hardenburg, 1967). Traditionally, coatings have been used to reduce water loss and improve appearance of whole produce such as apple and citrus. Certain coatings have been shown to improve the appearance of products by imparting gloss (Hagenmaier and Baker, 1994), intensifying peel color (Perkins-Veazie and Collins, 1991), and reducing pigment degradation (Chen et al., 1996) or undesirable pigment formation (Baldwin et al., 1996).