Reviewer: 1

Comments to the Author

1. Section 3.1, lines 39-40: The term "viable" is not appropriate to describe quality of a fruit.

Please change the term with something more appropriate.

2. Section 3.1, lines 40-44: The sentence "The slower decline in firmness indicates ..., leading to

decreasing in mango firmness during storage." is too long, and lacks clarity. Please improve.

3. Section 3.1, lines 47-52: The two sentences i.e., "Additionally, the

hydrolysis a ... over storage (Koh et al., 2017). Moreover, during storage, ... reduction in

firmness." need improvement. Please do the needful. In these sentences, "consumption of

starch", and "mangoes’ water was lost" are not appropriate expression. Please improve them,

and modify the sentences.

4. "Postharvest" can be written as a single word. In this manuscript, it is written as both as

'postharvest", and as "post-harvest". Please change be consistent throughout the manuscript,

and keep "postharvest" as a single word.

5. The sub-heading "Effects of chitosan-cajuput oil coating on mango firmness during storage"

should be changed to "Effects of chitosan-cajuput oil coating on of quality of mango during

storage", and then 3.1.1 should be "Firmness", 3.1.2 should be "Weight loss", 3.1.3 should be

"Color change", and so on.

6. In this kind of similar studies on biopolymer based active coatings developed for fruit storage,

characterization of the developed coating(s) is important. But in this study, that important part is

missing.

Reviewer: 2

Comments to the Author

approach significantly advances the current state of mango preservation research.

2. The experimental design lacks a proper positive control (e.g., a commercial preservative or

standard antifungal treatment), which is necessary for benchmarking the efficacy of the coating.

3. Statistical analysis is insufficiently detailed; please report diagnostic checks (normality,

homoscedasticity) and include exact p-values and confidence intervals where relevant.

4. The results section is excessively repetitive; consider synthesizing findings across multiple

parameters to avoid redundant reporting, especially regarding CC8 performance.

5. The study makes strong claims about antifungal efficacy and shelf-life extension without any

microbial or fungal spoilage data; please include this data or acknowledge it as a limitation.

6. Vitamin C and sugar content were determined using basic titrimetric and colorimetric

methods; validation with instrumental techniques (e.g., HPLC) or a discussion of method

limitations is recommended.

7. The cajuput oil used in the coatings was not chemically characterized; please provide GC-MS

or compositional data, or cite relevant literature to support functional claims.

8. Sensory evaluation lacks methodological rigor; provide more detail on panel selection,

standardization, training, and statistical treatment of the sensory data.

9. The manuscript contains numerous editorial inconsistencies in terminology, formatting,

symbol use, and grammar; a thorough revision is required for clarity and professionalism.

10. The discussion does not critically engage with existing literature or consider contradictory

findings; expand this section to improve the scholarly impact and interpretation of results.

Reviewer: 3
Comments to the Author

This work is based on the simple mixing of chitosan with cajuput oil. I think the novelty is very

poor for a Q1 journal in food science.

Reviewer: 4

Comments to the Author

The use of chitosan as a semipermeable barrier that limits gas exchange and thus the rate of

respiration and water evaporation is well documented in the scientific literature. Enriching this

matrix with essential oils such as cajuput may bring additional benefits due to their antioxidant

and antimicrobial properties. The authors confirmed that this synergistic combination effectively

slows down the physiological and biochemical processes of mango ripening.

However, the article lacks a broader analysis of the mechanisms of molecular, biochemical

interaction between the coating components and the fruit surface, e.g. the influence of the

coating pH, the degree of chitosan deacetylation or the exact phytochemical profile of cajuput

oil. This needs to be described in more detail. The introduction could be significantly expanded

to include a description of other modern edible coatings that are used in fruit preservation. For

example, coatings based on aloe gels with the addition of citrus oils showed a strong

preservative effect on mushrooms. Also, xanthan gum-based coatings enriched with

pomegranate peel extract were found to be effective in extending the shelf life of mango, which

is a valuable reference point for comparing the effectiveness between different carriers and

active ingredients. In addition, it is worth referring to the latest reports on the use of

nanotechnology in edible coatings. Add these articles to the references that will enrich the

manuscript: (2023). Characterization of aloe vera gel-based edible coating with orange peel

essential oil and its preservation effects on button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus). Food and
Bioprocess Technology, 16(12), 2877-2897. (2023). Extending the shelf life of mango

(Mangifera indica L.) fruits by using edible coating based on xanthan gum and pomegranate

peel extract. Journal of Food Measurement and Characterization, 17(2), 1300-1308. (2024).

Next generation edible nanoformulations for improving post-harvest shelf-life of citrus fruits.

Journal of Food Measurement and Characterization, 18(3), 1825-1856. (2023). Recent trends in

edible packaging for food applications—Perspective for the future. Food Engineering Reviews,

15(4), 718-747. The main advantage of the work is its experimental reliability because the

authors analyzed many physicochemical parameters in different time units, which gives a full

picture of the processes occurring during storage. However, these data are often presented

without sufficient interpretation. For example, there is no reference to the possible influence of

the mango surface microbiome on the effectiveness of the coating, which could significantly

affect the differences observed in the sensory results. There is also a lack of precise data on the

antibacterial activity of individual concentrations of cajuput oil and their comparison with other

oils, such as oregano, thyme, or lemon, which could significantly expand the application context.

In addition, in the body of the article, the authors should describe how different types of chitosan

(with different molecular weights and degrees of deacetylation) affect the effectiveness of

coatings in the presence of essential oil? Would microencapsulation of cajuput oil increase the

stability of the coating and slow down its volatility? How does the coating affect the expression

of genes related to fruit ripening, such as ACC synthase and ethylene oxidase? The work also

lacks a broader approach to the sensory impact - it is limited to general descriptions of changes

in firmness and aroma, but no analysis of the aromatic profile, which could have changed due to

the presence of intense essential oils, was conducted. Please describe what biochemical

mechanisms may be responsible for this.