Solanaceous crops such as eggplant, tomato, and bell pepper are highly valuable crops in the Philippines for its

versatility in Filipino food cuisines. However, these crops after harvest are prone to deterioration due to faster

ripening and microbial contamination leading to short life duration during transport and storage. To address this

challenge, introduction of botanical coatings to delay post-harvest deterioration of these crops is promising eco-

different aloe gel (AG) concentrations as pre-treatment on the quality of eggplant, tomato, and bell pepper fruits

during storage. Fruits were coated with AG and changes in the physical quality of the solanaceous fruits were

measured during storage within 7, 12, and 21 days. The present study showed that coating with 20%-30% AG

reduced the weight loss, and consequently, decreased loss of firmness, less shrinkage, lesser disease incidence

and severity, thereby improving the visual quality of the fruits. Pre-treating the fruit with AG was done by mixing

it with water to enhance the storage quality of the fruits. Results obtained from this study show that aloe gel

coating can be useful in extending the postharvest storage life and maintaining the quality of solanaceous fruits

during storage.

Keywords: Post-harvest, fruit deterioration, pre-treating fruits, aloe gel coatings, Monkayo

anthracnose that is commonly caused by Colletotrichum spp. (Ali, et al., 2016), and bacterial wilt caused by

Ralstonia solanacearum (Manda, et al., 2020) which can later cause postharvest losses if not manage as early as

possible.

Philippine production of eggplant in the year 2021 was 0.5 % higher than the output in 2020, which also have an

average annual rate of 0.2 % from 2017 to 2021 (PSA, 2023). However, this increase in production doesn’t mean

that there are no losses. In fact, Flores et al. (2018) reported that the postharvest system's loss of eggplant ranged

from 4.78 to 8.05% for a period of two days from harvest at the farm to retail market level which implies that

losses of this crop lie at the post-harvest operation. The same goes to the domestic production of tomato and bell

pepper where there were a 1.6%, and 7.0% annual increase as reported by PSA (2022). Despite of this increasing

production, the losses due to several factors still exist where in fact tomato has a postharvest loss of up to 25-42%

ecosystem and human health (Bonmatin, et al., 2021). The use of these synthetic pesticides was practiced by the

preferred appearance such as having a shiny surface without any bruises or diseases.

Therefore, to lessen the harmful effects of synthetic chemicals while reducing post-harvest losses, the optimization

of naturally based products to delay the crop deterioration is a trend. In fact, food losses reduction according to

Chakraborty and Chattopadhyay, (2018) is less costly than the equivalent increase in food production, and that

the success of food production lies in the proper distribution of produce and its subsequent utilization by the

consumers with least waste in the process.

Furthermore, Martínez-Romero, et al., (2006) believed that coating fruits with preservative compounds provides

a modified atmosphere by creating a semi-permeable barrier against oxygen, carbon dioxide, moisture, and solute

Specifically, the study aimed to determine the effects of aloe vera gel application at different concentrations to

the physical appearance of solanaceous crops (eggplant, tomato, and bell pepper fruits); evaluate the efficacy of

aloe vera gel at lower concentration in extending shelf-life, maintaining physical quality, and controlling disease

incidence of solanaceous crops; and evaluate the various responses of these solanaceous crops to its physical

attributes with the application of aloe vera gel.

This study was conducted at Monkayo College of Arts, Sciences, and Technology, Poblacion, Monkayo, Davao

de Oro, Philippines. Commodity used in this study were the freshly harvested solanaceous fruits from the

municipality of Monkayo, Davao de Oro. It was traveled inside a cooler container to ensure freshness, prevent

cooler container from the field to the laboratory to allow undamaged, disease free, and matured (3-4 years) leaves,

as well as to keep all the active ingredients in full concentration. Upon the arrival of the aloe vera leaves, filleting

operation was completed within 24 hours to avoid decomposition of the biological activities. Thereafter, the aloe

gel fillets were crushed and homogenized using a commercial high-speed blender within 3 minutes at room

temperature (25°C). This process was to prevent the reaction of enzymatic browning, since the longer the grinding

time, the higher the browning index of aloe vera gel juice (Liu, 2001).

This study conducted enzyme treatment where the AG was subjected to double boiling method for 50°C within

20 min as cited by Ramachandra, et al., (2008) from the procedure of Maughan (1984) to reduce the loss of

Thereafter, the juice was flashed cooled to 5°C within 10-15 seconds to preserve biological activity of the aloe

vera gel.

Aloe gel (AG) concentration used in this study were 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30% in 500 ml water. The

– 10% AG, T4 – 15% AG, T5 – 20% AG, T6 – 25% AG, T7 – 30% AG.

The fruit samples were observed visually in daily manner for weight loss, and with a time interval of two days for

visual aspect such as shrinkage or shriveling, color change of the skin, microbial growth, softening nature until it

reached visual quality rating (VQR) of 3 which is the limit of marketability.

Cumulative Weight loss (CWL)

Weights of the three (3) samples fruits in each treatment were recorded daily. Cumulative weight loss was

calculated with the formula: %CWL= Wi – Wd / Wi (100) where: CWL= cumulative weight loss (%); Wi = initial

weight (g); and Wd = weight at date of observation (g).

Ripening Color

fair, moderate defects, limit of marketability; 4- poor, defects serious, usable but not saleable; and 5- limit of

edibility, non-edible under usual conditions.

Scale used in this study followed the index used by Bayogan, et al., (2019) with slight modification, to measure

Scale used in this study followed the index used by Bayogan, et al., (2019) to measure when the shrinkage of the

fruits occurs when applied with aloe vera gel presented as 1- no shriveling; 2- slightly shriveled, (1%-15%); 3-

moderate, 16%-30% shriveling (limit of marketability); 4- severe, 31%-49% shriveling; and 5- extreme, ≥ 50%.

The number of diseased fruits (Df) was counted on every two days after treatment application. Then the values of

symptoms; 2- trace infection (1%-10%); 3- slight infection (11%-25%); 4- moderate infection (26%-50%); 5-

severe infection (>50%).

Collected data were analyzed using the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), following the Completely Randomized

Significant Difference (THSD)

Weight loss of eggplant, tomato, and bell pepper was inevitable in normal condition. However, in this study, there

was a significant difference among treatment means as affected by the application of aloe gel (Table 1.a-c).

applied with aloe vera.

study can be explained by the ability of aloe vera coating to limit moisture loss. The high rate of weight loss

recorded for untreated can be partly explained by an increased rate of metabolic activities or higher rate of

moisture evaporation caused by the higher environmental temperature (Dadzie, et al, 2021).

of respiration rates and ethylene emission of fruits which can cause fasten ripening of the nearby fruits. This was

in agreement with Chrysargyris, et al, (2016) which states that addition of aloe gel did not affect the respiration

rates, being in accordance with previous studies when various aloe gel concentrations were tested.

The results of the study agree with the findings of Nasrin et al. (2018), where bell pepper coated with aloe vera

gel preserves the color of the fruit. The same findings for apples (Ergun and Satici, 2012), grapes (Serrano et al.,

2006) and papaya (Brishti et al., 2013). The delay of color changes can be due to the decrease of ethylene

production that delays the ripening, chlorophyll degradation, anthocyanin accumulation and carotenoid synthesis

because of the modified atmosphere created by the aloe vera gel (Carrillo-Lopez et al., 2000).

Table 2.b. Mean of the repining color of bell pepper applied with the different concentration of aloe (A.

barbadensis) gel (AG)

consequently, minimizing loss of fruit quality in terms of weight, firmness and color.