Influence of packaging in the analysis of fresh-cut Valerianella locusta L. and Golden Delicious apple slices by visible-near infrared and near infrared spectroscopy

•Vis/NIR and NIR spectroscopy were used to monitor fresh-cut salad and apple.•The aim was to investigate the packaging influence on the optical measurements.•Spectra were acquired in contact with the samples surface and through the packaging.•PLS-DA classification models were built for the two measurement conditions.•The classification performances were considered to evaluate the packaging influence.

The aim of this work was to investigate the influence of packaging on measurements of visible-near infrared and near infrared spectroscopy during the shelf life of fresh-cut Valerianella leaves and Golden Delicious apple slices. Principal component analysis and partial least square discriminant analysis were applied on spectral data to reach the objectives.Results on Golden Delicious could be considered satisfactory even if the classification performances were lower than those obtained for Valerianella; however, overall collected positive predictive values ranged from 86.7% to 100.0%. The presence of packaging had only a slight effect on classification capability. These findings would be useful in the development of freshness decay assessment tools using these optical techniques along products' post-packaging chain.