Capability of oxygen-scavenger sachets and modified atmosphere packaging to extend fresh barberry shelf life

• Published in: Chemical and biological technologies in agriculture Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 1 - 14
• Main Authors: Niazmand, Razieh, Yeganehzad, Samira
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 23.12.2020; Springer Nature B.V; SpringerOpen
• Subjects: Acidity; Agriculture; Anthocyanins; Antioxidants; Ascorbic acid; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Carbon dioxide; Chemical properties; Color; Decay; Food packaging; Herbal medicine; Life Sciences; Low density polyethylenes; Modified atmospheres; Natural gas; Nitrogen atmosphere; Organic Chemistry; Oxygen; Packages; Packaging; Phenols; Plant Biochemistry; Plant Physiology; Polyethylene; Polyethylene terephthalate; Postharvest quality; Sensory properties; Shelf life; Soil Science & Conservation; Storage; Storage temperature; Vacuum; Vacuum; Nitrogen atmosphere; Storage; shelf life; Postharvest quality
• ISSN: 2196-5641; 2196-5641
• DOI: 10.1186/s40538-020-00195-3

Background Barberry has long been used as an herbal remedy since ancient times which is found throughout temperate and subtropical regions of the world. Given the short harvesting season and limited shelf life of the barberry, we evaluated the possibility of using modified atmosphere packaging and oxygen-scavenger sachets to increase its storage period. For this purpose, the physicochemical characterization (antioxidant activity, anthocyanin, phenolic compounds, and ascorbic acid content, acidity, firmness, color, and decay incident) of fresh barberry samples packaged within different atmospheres was investigated over 4 weeks of storage at 4 and 25 °C. The barberries were packaged with low-density polyethylene/polyester (LDPE/PET) films under natural atmosphere (C), N 2 gas (N), vacuum (V), or in the presence of an oxygen scavenger (OS). Results The results revealed that with increased storage period, the O 2 and CO 2 levels inside the packages decreased and increased, respectively. The antioxidant activity and amounts of anthocyanin, phenolic compounds, and ascorbic acid all decreased with increasing storage period. Among the studied atmospheres, the OS and, subsequently, V packages were most capable of maintaining the quality of fresh barberries, with the decay incidence being approximately 30 times lower inside these packages relative to the control. Increasing the storage temperature accelerated the intensity of chemical changes and decay across all samples. Conclusion The barberries inside the OS packages stored at 4 °C (and even at 25 °C) still had good sensory properties in terms of chemical properties, texture, and color after 4 weeks. Fortunately, it seems that this packaging technology makes the exportation and delayed consumption of the fresh barberry possible by maintaining its quality.