SHELF-LIFE PREDICTION AND MANAGEMENT OF FROZEN STRAWBERRIES WITH TIME TEMPERATURE INTEGRATORS (TTI)

摘要

Temperature conditions in distribution chain determine the quality of frozen products. These conditions can be monitored with Time Temperature Integrators (TTI), simple devices that show a visible time- temperature dependent response, that can be translated to the food's quality status. For the development of a TTI based management system, quality indices of frozen strawberry, including vitamin C (HPLC), color (CIELab scale) and flavor (sensory evaluation) were kinetically studied in the range -5 to -18°C and their temperature dependence was modelled by the Arrhenius equation. The activation energy, Ea, ranged from 28 to 40 kcal/mol. The response of enzymatic TTIs was also kinetically studied, with Ea calculated at 24 kcal/mol, and correlated to the quality level of the strawberries. The results showed that the TTI provided effective indication of the product's remaining shelf-life, in the real chill chain.