Research progress in plant essential oil-a promissing preservative used in ‘Red Sun' kiwifruit storage

Plant essential oil is the substance with specific aromatic odor extracted from plants, which plays an important role in enhancing the bioactivities and maintaining the quality of fruits and vegetables. Therefore it is favored as a natural preservative for food. In this paper, the antibacterial mechanisms and the applications of essential oils on the preservation of fruits and vegetables were summarized, and we emphasized its antibacterial effects on Botryosphaeria parva and Colletorichum acutatum, which are the primary cause of decay and metamorphism of ‘Red Sun' kiwifruit. The application and prospect of plant essential oils in the storage and preservation of ‘Red Sun' kiwifruit in the future were also proposed.