Microbiological and biochemical stability of fresh-cut apples preserved by modified atmosphere packaging
Robert C. Soliva-Fortuny, Pedro Elez-Martínez and Olga Martín-Belloso ,
Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies Volume 5, Issue 2 , June 2004, Pages 215-224
2004
บทคัดย่อ
The microbial shelf life offresh-cutGolden Delicious apples was assessed throughout storage under different modified atmosphere packaging conditions. Microbial viability rose rapidly during the first weeks of storage for all the studied conditions mostly due to the increase in mesophilic aerobic bacterial populations. Apple cubes preserved in plastic bags of 15 cm3 O2 m-2 bar-1 24 h-1 and flushed with 100% N2 had the longest stability with microbial counts below 5 log[CFU g-1] during the first month of refrigerated storage. These conditions also resulted in non-significant changes in the product acidity and in the sugars content throughout the studied period. Ascorbic acid contents decreased showing considerable influence of the O2 availability. It was also demonstrated that a modification of the Gompertz equation was suitable for describing the evolution of microbial populations, thus being useful for predicting the shelf life of such commodity as influenced by processing and packaging conditions.