Xanthan gum edible coating extends storage life and maintains quality of blackberry fruit by attenuating disease incidence and downregulating oxidative stress.

Blackberries exhibit strong antioxidant properties; however, due to their highly perishable nature, even under cold storage, they are prone to decay and spoilage. Therefore, the present study intended to evaluate the effectiveness of xanthan gum (XG) edible coating in extending storage life and preserving the physicochemical, antioxidant, and quality attributes of blackberries. For this purpose, blackberries were immersed in different levels of XG (control, 0.5%, 0.75%, and 1%) for 5 min and were stored for 15 days. Results exhibited that pre-storage application of 1% XG coating significantly delayed weight loss and disease incidence compared to uncoated fruit. Additionally, XG (1%) coating significantly inhibited the rise in ripening index, as well as the production of hydrogen peroxide, malondialdehyde, and polyphenol peroxidase, compared to the control. Further, blackberries coated with 1% XG maintained higher titratable acidity, ascorbic acid, total phenolic content, and antioxidant activity than uncoated fruit. The application of XG (1%) also maintained the activities of antioxidant enzymes and suppressed the increase in softening enzyme activities compared to uncoated fruit. Overall, XG coating (1%) remarkably preserved the quality of blackberries during cold storage. These findings suggest that pre-storage XG coating is a promising approach to mitigate oxidative damage by enhancing antioxidant enzyme activities and improving the postharvest quality of stored blackberries.