The influence of packaging materials protective properties and applying modified atmosphere on packed dried apricot quality changes

Abstract

The influence of protective properties of packaging materials and modified atmosphere on quality changes of dried apricot is shown in this paper. In our investigation, we used four different characteristic combinations of packaging materials with different barrier properties for packaging of dried apricot: polyester-polyethylene (PET/PE), paper-polyethylene (PAP/PE), paper-aluminum-polyethylene (PAP/Al/PE), polyester-aluminum-polyethylene (PET/Al/PE) and two different atmospheric conditions: normal and modified. Modified atmosphere was made in laboratory conditions: CO2 about 30%, N2 about 60%, and the rest is O2. Over the 12-month storage period, the changes in the water content, water activity (aw) and overall polyphenol content were monitored in the packed product.

Keywords

• packaging
• modified atmosphere
• dried apricot