Development of a New Packaging Approach for Fresh produce: A Case Study on Fresh Cherries under Domestic and International Supply Chain Conditions

摘要

A new packaging system to extend the shelf life of fresh produce in a cold chain with changing temperatures has been developed. This new packaging system allows the rapid increase of the CO2 concentration (while reducing the O2 concentration) when stored at low temperature and an immediate adjustment to temperature rises in the cold chain in order to maintain optimal gas compositions. The storage stability of fresh, sweet, stem-free in these packages under domestic (road fransport) and international (ocean transport) supply chain conditions have been monitored. Flexible, macroperforated bags were used as controls since they are the predominant retail package for fresh cherries. The new packages were placed directly in corrugated boxes while the controls were placed in corrugated boxes with crimp sealed plastic liners in order to simulate current cherry industry practices. Package headspace gas compositions, as well as firmness were monitored for up to 27 days. Consumer acceptance sensory tests were conducted after 14 and 27 days of storage for stem-on and stem-free cherries (N>70). The beneficial effects of the use of this new packaging system include the maintenance of the package gas composition and of the cherry firmness (P≤0.05). Additionally, consumers demonsfrated a significant purchasing preference for the new package versus the control (P≤0.05). Consumers rated cherries stored in the new packages significantly higher than the controls using a 9 point hedonic scale. Regarding the simulation of the domestic supply chain, consumers had a significant (P≤0.0025) preference for the appearance of cherries stored in the new packages. For the international supply chain simulation, significant preference for aroma of cherries stored in the new packages was also demonstrated (P≤0.0427).