Application of Accelerated Shelf-Life Testing for Determination of Bioactive Emulsion Food Systems’ Shelf Life

Abstract

Determination of the shelf life of food systems involves time consuming and labor-intensive studies. Application of Accelerated Shelf Life Testing (ASLT) allows to determine the degree of time influence and assess environmental conditions’ impact on a food system as well as establish its shelf life in a short time span. This method is extensively applied in various areas, including food industries and scientific research. However, identifying of such dependencies for particular types of food systems is essential. The purpose of the research is to determine shelf life of bioactive emulsion food systems, namely emulsion food systems additionally enriched with biologically active substances, applying ASLT. The studies in this field, which had been conducted at 45±1°C, 40±1°C and 35±1°C temperature control, demonstrated acceleration of chemical processes by 12, 11 and 9 times compared to the control sample with the storage temperature of +4°±2°C. Shelf life of bioactive emulsion food systems was established in compliance with the requirements and absence of significant differences in the values of organoleptic and physicochemical parameters of the samples, tested at higher temperatures in comparison to the control sample. A three-month period was proved to be the shelf life of bioactive emulsion food systems. This conclusion was made on the basis of the time of emerging of crucial differences, taking into consideration the safety factor.