Fresh fig is one of the most perishable climacteric fruits. An alternative to maintain quality and extend the shelf life of this fruit could be the use of edible coatings. Therefore, in the present study, the effect of three different coatings; 0.5 % chitosan, 200 mg L- thymol and their combined use on postharvest quality of fig fruits cv. ‘Siah’ were investigated. Dripping fruits in distilled water was used as a control. Changes in weight loss, respiration rate, fruit firmness, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), anthocyanin, sensory characteristics, fungal decay incidence and color values (L*, C* and ΔE*) of fruits were evaluated during 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 days storage at 6 °C. The results showed that the combination of chitosan and thymol presented more effective preservative effect than sole chitosan or thymol coating. The coated fruits with 0.5 % chitosan + 200 mg L- thymol showed significantly lower weight loss, respiration rate, TSS, TSS/TA, and fungal decay incidence than other treatments. Furthermore, the coated fruits with 0.5 % chitosan + 200 mg L- thymol exhibited significantly higher firmness, TA, anthocyanin, and sensory characteristics than other treatments. In addition, fruits coated with 0.5 % chitosan + 200 mg L- thymol showed the highest L* and C* values after 20 days storage at 6 °C. Therefore, the coating composed of chitosan and thymol can provide an efficient alternative for quality maintenance and shelf life extension of fresh fig fruits.
