Shelf-life and kinetics of quality change of dried pomegranate arils in flexible packaging

•GAB model was found best fit between moisture content and water activity.•Shelf-life of dried arils was predicted 187 and 96 days in ALP and HDPP pouches, respectively.•Quality changes during storage of dried arils followed zero order kinetics.

Pomegranate arils were dried by microwave-vacuum drying technique and later packaged in pouches of high density polypropylene (HDPP) and aluminum laminated polyethylene (ALP). The shelf-life of dried pomegranate arils was predicted on the basis of change in color of the product under accelerated storage conditions (38 ± 1 °C, 90 ± 1% relative humidity (RH)) which was estimated to be 96 and 187 days in HDPP and ALP, respectively. The changes in quality parameters such as anthocyanin, phenolics, total soluble solids (TSS) (°brix) and titrable acidity (TA) were studied in the selected packaging materials. The magnitude of quality change of dried pomegranate arils measured during storage suggested that ALP has better protective effect than the HDPP. The kinetics of quality parameter change was of zero order.