Abstracto

Extending the shelf life of fresh pistachio by antioxidant active packaging

Ziyang He, Shikai Zhang, Laicheng Li, Fangzhou Xu, Peng Wu

In general, fresh pistachio rapidly degrades under normal conditions. In this study, we first investigated how the efficiency of antioxidant packaging systems affects the shelf life of pistachio samples. Packaging systems include antioxidant active packaging containing cinnamon essential oil, spraying stannous chloride, modified atmosphere with nitrogen packaging (MAP), as well as the combinations of the three. Since sensory quality is usually taken into account in selecting the best packaging system, a comprehensive sensory study was performed for the assessment of each option, and some parameters, such as peroxide index, microbial assessment, and aflatoxin concentration, were investigated. Results revealed that, when these parameters were considered in total, active packaging with sprayed stannous chloride was noted as an effective approach for shelf life extension. In particular, active packaging with spraying stannous chloride simultaneously preserves the high quality of sensorial properties for packaged fresh pistachio and inhibits microbial growth.