45F-10 |
Maintaining quality of fresh-cut apples with edible coating during 13-Days refrigerated storage |
S. SONTI1, W. Prinyawiwatkul1, H. K. No2, and M. E. Janes1. (1) Dept. of Food Science, Louisiana State Univ. Agricultural Center, 111 Food Science Bldg., Baton Rouge, LA 70803-4200, (2) Dept. of Food Science & Technology, Catholic Univ. of Daegu, Hayang, 712-702, South Korea Consumer demand for ready-to-eat fresh-cut fruits and vegetables (FCFV) has been drastically increasing. Maintaining the quality of FCFV continues to challenge the food industry. Edible coating may extensively prolong the shelf life and increase marketability of fresh-cut apples. This study determined the effects of whey protein coating on physical and microbial qualities of fresh-cut Fuji apples during 13-days refrigerated storage. The whole apples were surface sanitized, uniformly cut into cubes, and coated with 0% (water as the control), 5% or 10% of whey protein concentrate (WPC), whey protein isolate (WPI) or partially hydrolyzed whey protein concentrate (PHWPC). Each coating solution (except the control) contained 30% glycerol by weight of the whey protein. All samples were stored in sealed plastic containers at 2C and drawn for color, texture firmness, moisture loss and microbial safety (total plate count and E. coli/Coliform) evaluation after 1, 4, 7, 10 and 13 days. Two separate batches of apples were used. Triplicate quality measurements for each batch were conducted. Data were statistically analyzed (a=0.05). 10%WPC coating was most effective in minimizing weight loss with 1.8% moisture loss observed after 13-days storage. There were no changes in color lightness (L*) of samples coated with WPC or WPI, whereas significantly decreased lightness was observed for the control after 4-days storage. 5% and 10% WPC coated apples turned brown, respectively, after 7 and 10 days of storage. Firmness of the coated samples did not change after 13-days storage compared to that of the control that was undesirably soft. The 10% treatments were better than 5% treatments in maintaining the firmness. The total plate count ranged from 0.3-5.0 CFU/g after 10-days storage. No E. coli/Coliforms were detected during 13-days refrigerated storage. This study suggests that 10%WPC coating is effective in maintaining quality of fresh-cut Fuji apples during 13-days refrigerated storage.
Session 45F, Fruit & Vegetable Products: Fruits (Fresh)
|