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Mango has a high global demand. Fruit fungal disease causes post-harvest mango and fruit losses. Conventional chemical fungicides and plastic prevent fungal diseases but they are hazardous to humans and the environment. Direct application of essential oil for post-harvest fruit control is not a cost-effective approach. The current work offers an eco-friendly alternative to controlling the post-harvest disease of fruit using a film amalgamated with oil derived from Melaleuca alternifolia. Further, this research also aimed to assess the mechanical, antioxidant, and antifungal properties of the film infused with essential oil. ASTM D882 was performed to determine the tensile strength of the film. The antioxidant reaction of the film was assessed using the DPPH assay. In vitro and in vivo tests were used to evaluate the inhibitory development of the film against pathogenic fungi, by comparing the film with different levels of essential oil together with the treatment of the control and chemical fungicide. Disk diffusion was used to evaluate mycelial growth inhibition, where the film incorporated with 1.2 wt% essential oil yielded the best results. For in vivo testing of wounded mango, the disease incidence was successfully reduced. For in vivo testing of unwounded mango to which the film incorporated with essential oil was applied, although some quality parameters such as the color index were not significantly affected, weight loss was reduced, soluble solid content was increased, and firmness was increased, compared to the control. Thus, the film incorporated with essential oil (EO) from M. alternifolia can be an environmentally friendly alternative to the conventional approach and the direct application of essential oil to control post-harvest disease in mango.

The ultrafiltration mixed matrix membrane (UF MMMs) process represents an applicable approach for the removal of diluted acetic acid at low concentrations, owing to the low pressures applied. The addition of efficient additives represents an approach to further improve membrane porosity and, subsequently, enhance acetic acid removal. This work demonstrates the incorporation of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) as additives into polysulfone (PSf) polymer via the non-solvent-induced phase-inversion (NIPS) method to improve the performance of PSf MMMs performance. Eight PSf MMMs samples designated as M0 to M7, each with independent formulations, were prepared and investigated for their respective density, porosity, and degree of AA retention. Morphology analysis through scanning electron microscopy elucidated sample M7 (PSf/TiO2/PEG 6000) to have the highest density and porosity among all samples with concomitant highest AA retention at approximately 92.2%. The application of the concentration polarization method further supported this finding by the higher concentration of AA solute present on the surface of the membrane compared to that of AA feed for sample M7. Overall, this study successfully demonstrates the significance of TiO2 and PEG as high MW additives in improving PSf MMM performance.