Lime (Citrus floridana) is a quickly perishable fruit, limiting its shelf life because of reduced
chlorophyll content and post-harvest quality under different storage conditions. To increase
chlorophyll stability as well as other quality factors of limes, they were coated with
beeswax in 0.1 wt.% and
sodium nitroprusside in three various concentrations (0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 mM) at 25 °C for 3 min and then stored at 8 °C for 60 days. In this research, changes in
weight loss, juice content, firmness (F),
chlorophyll,
chlorophyllase activity,
polyphenol oxidase activity, color, total acidity (titratable acidity),
ascorbic acid (ASA) and sensory evaluation were studied. During storage at low temperatures, BW surface coating (0.1%) alone,
sodium nitroprusside alone, and also in combination with each other and a double layer were effective in maintaining
chlorophyll and the qualitative characteristics of limes. In our observations, the best treatment was the treatment where the limes were coated by
beeswax enriched by
sodium nitroprusside coating. This treatment contained the highest content of
lime juice and the highest
chlorophyll plus the lowest activity of
chlorophyllase and
polyphenol oxidase, while the amount of green color was maintained to a large extent. As a result, it is possible to use
beeswax enriched by
sodium nitroprusside coating method to maintain the quality and
chlorophyll of cold-stored
lime fruits.