The performance of organic and inorganic coated retort pouch materials on the shelf life of ready-to-eat rice products

The performance of organic and inorganic coated retort pouch materials on the shelf life of ready-to-eat (RTE) rice products was investigated. Two different retort pouch structures were used: the organic material coated retort pouch (ORG), organic material coated polyethylene terephthalate (PET)/biaxially oriented nylon (BON)/cast polypropylene (CPP); the inorganic material coated retort pouch (IND), aluminum oxide coated PET/BON/CPP. Two specific cooked rice products, plain and chicken-flavored cooked rice, were utilized for the comparison. For quantitative analysis, moisture content and lightness of the rice products were measured. The moisture content of both the plain and chicken-flavored rice packed in either pouch decreased slightly during the 12 week storage time after retort processing. However, there were no significant differences in quantitative analysis between the ORG and IND for both the plain and chicken-flavored cooked rice. A simple paired comparison test was used to evaluate the sensory characteristics of rice products. Overall, there were no significant sensory differences between the ORG and IND for both the plain and the chicken-flavored cooked rice. These results demonstrated that the newly developed ORG can be used as a retort pouch material for RTE rice products.