Jaggery, a sugar rich food product produced all over the world, is an important component in Indian diet, and it is consumed directly or used for preparation of sweet confectionery items. It is also used in many herbal and traditional medicines. India produces about 6 million tonnes of jaggery annually, which accounts 60% of the total production in the world; 65-70% of the total jaggery is from sugarcane, the remaining 30% is from palms. Jaggery is prepared predominantly by concentrating the sugarcane juice. It is available in the form of solid blocks as well as in semi-liquid form. In India, Production of jaggery starts from October and continues upto May, depending on the location. The total jaggery is produced is not consumed immediately after production, and is stored for a period of 10 to 12 months. The major problem associated with jaggery storage is the presence of invert sugars and mineral salts which being hygroscopic absorb moisture particularly during monsoon season when ambient humidity is high, and lead to spoilage. It has been estimated that more than 10% of jaggery produced in the country worth Rs.40 crores is lost every year due to deterioration. Drying of jaggery to reduce its initial moisture content is essential for storage. Attempts were made by several authors to prevent microbial growth and to increase the shelf life of jaggery based on wrapping or packaging in common packaging materials, in airtight containers, polyethylene and storage under ambient and refrigerated cold storage. Although many packaging materials have been studied with the aim of increasing shelf life, no data are yet available on applying edible coating and packaging under vacuum for a similar purpose. Edible films and coatings has been successfully used in various food applications e.g., in maintaining purity of fruits, providing functionality (e.g. glaze to chocolate), controlling adhesion, cohesion, barrier properties, extending shelf life and providing mechanical integrity to the product. However this technology is not well developed for protection of jaggery from spoilage. Edible films and coatings may extend the shelf life of jaggery produce by providing a semi-permeable barrier to gases and water vapour. The barrier would reduce respiration, enzymatic browning and loss of water from the product. Therefore, this article reviews research results of edible films/coatings prepared with hydrocolloids, lipids, waxes and composites over various food products including jaggery, formulation and application of edible coatings, and future trends, which is highly essential to develop techniques for the application of edible coatings/films to the jaggery, which may prevent the undesirable changes and increase the shelf life of jaggery during storage.

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