The shelf life extension of fresh strawberries using an oxygen absorber in the biobased package

Oxygen absorbers are one of the most widely used materials in active packaging technology to extend shelf life of fruits. In this paper, effectiveness of two types of oxygen absorbers on quality of fresh strawberries is reported. Gas composition inside package, pH, total soluble solids, electrical conductivity, color, texture, decay incidence, sensory and FT-NIR analyses were performed during 4 weeks storage at 4 °C. After two weeks of storage, ATCO-100 (100 mL scavenging capacity) and ATCO-210 (210 mL scavenging capacity) saturated and in the third week of storage, O2 concentration increased to 6 kPa due to the O2 transmitted from outside to the inside package. Loss of total soluble solid, pH and electrical leakage were higher in the control strawberries than packaged with O2 absorbers. Strawberries packaged with oxygen absorbers had significantly higher L* and a* values as compared to control fruits. Absorbers had significant effect on maintaining firmness and mold reduction of strawberry. According to panelists, strawberries exposed to absorbers showed better scores than control for all attributes. FT-NIR spectra gave insightful information about water and carbohydrate content of strawberry. Results of this study confirm that the oxygen absorbers can be used to extend shelf life of fresh strawberry.

► The use of O2 absorbers provides long shelf life by slowing the respiration rate.
► No significant differences were found in fruit quality between ATCO-100 and ATCO-210.
► O2 absorbers had a beneficial effect on the quality of strawberry.
► O2 absorbers can be used for commercial applications.
► FT-NIR represents an innovative alternative to monitor fruit quality changes.