Fresh loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) fruits easily lose their marketability because of fungal spoilage, browning, and weight loss after harvest. The use of essential oils as postharvest treatment is a talented alternative to fungicides mainly because of their ability to reduce respiration and transpiration of the fresh fruits during storage. However, the postharvest studies with the volatiles of essential oils are limited. The present study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of volatile essential oils of myrtle (Myrtus communis L.) leaves for preserving the postharvest storability of loquat fruits. Test fruits of the present study were exposed to 5 different treatments, which are (i) water vapor (2 min), (ii) myrtle leaves (3% w/w), (iii) myrtle leaf vapor (2 min), (iv) myrtle leaf vapor (10 min), and (v) untreated control. A total of 30 compounds were isolated from the essential oil, and the three highest amounts of compounds were determined as eucalyptol (39.38%), α-pinene (24.98%), and linalool (8.18%). Exposure to myrtle leaves (3% w/w) and myrtle leaf vapor (2 min) was also noted to provide higher efficacy for reducing the weight loss, decay incidence, and browning index.

Tagetes minuta L. known as Muster John Henry is an annual, fragrant and naturalized plant species in Turkey. The study aimed to determine essential oil content and components of Tagetes minuta L. from the flora of Hatay. Flower and leaf parts were hydrodistilled together in the full flowering period. Essential oils were analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Essential oil content was found at 1.8%. Essential oil compositions that constitute 99.20% of the essential oil were revealed. Main components found as trans-β-ocimene 45.92% and verbenone 32.68%. T. minuta has wide usage in perfume, food and ornamental plant industry. Further studies should perform on the cultivation of the species for national industries.

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The current research was carried out to test the effects of edible coatings (EC) enriched with laurel essential oil (EC+LEO) on the storability of strawberry 'Camarosa' fruits. Freshly harvested strawberry fruits were randomly separated into three groups and each group was treated with a different treatment, including EC, EC+LEO and control. Fruits were stored at 4.0 ± 1.0 °C and a relative humidity of 90-95% for 15 days. Results suggested that both EC and EC+LEO have positive effects of the quality parameters of strawberry fruits and help to improve the storage duration of the fruits. After 15 days of storage, the average weight loss of the control fruits reached to 12.44%, but was kept at 9.06% and 7.13% at the EC and EC+LEO treated fruits, respectively. Both the EC and EC+LEO treatments were found to have positive impact on the prevention of disease severity and chemical spoilage and lowering respiration rate of the fruits. The loss in the fruit firmness, soluble solids concentration, ascorbic acid content and titratable acidity of the fruits were also found to delay in the coated fruits. The EC+LEO treatment was found to have better performance than the EC treatment. Overall results recommended that the edible coatings enriched with laurel essential oil improve the storability of strawberry fruits and have possibility to be used in postharvest industry.