Spanish researchers have developed a gel from tropical plant aloe vera useful as an edible, invisible and tasteless coating, prolonging the quality of fruits and vegetables.
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The University of Miguel Hernández, Alicante, Spain, study will appear in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. The researchers claim the gel – based on a plant widely used in Spain by sunburned tourists – could be a safe and environmentally friendly alternative to synthetic preservatives.
They experimented on table grapes, using a gel processed to maximise active aloe compounds: untreated grapes deteriorated rapidly within seven days, while gel-coated grapes were well-preserved for up to 35 days.
