An edible coating for the preservation of pieces of fruit, the manufacturing and application process thereof, wherein the coating is applied to the fruit by way of a first aqueous solution of an alginate having a high viscosity of above 250 mPa.s and a low concentration of between 0.05% a 1% by weight relative to the total weight of the first aqueous solution and by way of a second aqueous solution including a cross-linking agent of calcium ascorbate or calcium lactate, to cause the alginate to gel and including citric acid as antioxidant agent, or a combination of citric acid and sodium ascorbate, the second aqueous solution also possibly containing additionally malic acid as antimicrobial agent, where the citric acid and, as the case may be, the malic acid, behave as metal ion chelating agents.
