An irreversible ripeness indicator to monitor the CO2 concentration in the headspace of packaged kimchi during storage

• Published in: Food science and biotechnology Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 91 - 97
• Main Authors: Meng, Xiangpeng, Lee, Kyuho, Kang, Tae-Young, Ko, Sanghoon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg The Korean Society of Food Science and Technology 01.02.2015; 한국식품과학회
• Subjects: Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Food Science; Nutrition; Research Article; 식품과학; carbon dioxide; chitosan; quality indicator; kimchi ripeness; intelligent food packaging
• ISSN: 1226-7708; 2092-6456
• DOI: 10.1007/s10068-015-0014-2

An irreversible chitosan-based indicator has been developed to monitor the kimchi quality corresponding to the partial pressure of CO 2 gas in the packaging headspace. For this, 0.3% (w/v) solutions of chitosan and the Coomassie Brilliant Blue dye (BB) were mixed at volume ratios of 10:1, 10:2, and 10:5 to yield BB-incorporated chitosan-based CO 2 indicators. A greater CO 2 accumulation was observed for kimchi samples stored at 25°C than those stored at 15°C. Acidity measurements indicated optimal consumer satisfaction at 1 and 3 days (when the transparency measurements for the developed indicators were approximately 20%) for kimchi samples stored at 15 and 25°C, respectively. A Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the indicator transparency correlated well with several parameters used to indicate the kimchi quality.