Shelf life extension of whole-wheat breadsticks: Formulation and packaging strategies

•Shelf life extension of whole-wheat breadsticks.•Strategies: addition of a rosemary extract and/or packaging under nitrogen.•Whole-wheat breadstick quality decay is mainly associated to lipid oxidation.•The protection effects of rosemary extract and packaging under nitrogen are additional.•The rosemary extract addition is more effective than packaging under nitrogen.

The aim of this study was the shelf life extension of whole-wheat breadsticks through the addition of a rosemary extract and packaging under nitrogen. Shelf life was studied at four temperatures (20, 27, 35, 48 °C) for up to 200 storage days. The minimal changes observed in moisture, water activity and texture of the samples, coupled with the high peroxide values (13-539 meqO2/kgfat) measured at the end of storage, and the exponential increase of hexanal concentrations (up to 13-34 mg/kg) confirmed that quality decay of whole-wheat breadsticks is mainly associated to lipid oxidation. The kinetic study of oxidation development and the consumer sensory acceptance determined by the survival analysis demonstrated that the rosemary extract addition yields a 42% shelf life extension, higher than that observed using nitrogen in the package (24-29%). The combination of the formulation and packaging strategies gave the best result (83% shelf life extension at 25 °C).