Advances in Biology & Earth Sciences

This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of chitosan beads combined with calamondin (Citrus microcarpa) essential oil (CS-EO) in significantly delaying ripening and maintaining the quality of bananas during short-term ambient storage. Samples were treated with chitosan, chitosan combined with essential oil and control. The results showed that from the first days of storage, the CS-EOs significantly reduced weight loss compared to the control and pure chitosan. During the monitoring period, bananas treated with CS-EOs maintained longer freshness, reduced the rate of spoilage and kept brighter peel color. In samples with high essential oil concentrations (1.5-2%), the preservation effect was more obvious: while the control and samples treated with only chitosan quickly spoiled after 6-8 days, the CS-EOs was still preserved until day 8 with stable quality. These results suggest that adding essential oils to chitosan beads can effectively maintain the quality of bananas for a certain period and they are a potential material for preserving other fruits.