Effects of modified atmosphere packaging with different sizes of silicon gum film windows on Salicornia bigelovii Torr. storage

BACKGROUND: Salicornia bigelovii Torr. is a promising seasonal plant using seawater production but perishable with short shelf-life under ambient conditions. To develop a modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) for extension of S. bigelovii shelf-life, a nonselective polyethylene/polyamide (PE/PA) bag combining different sizes (0.6, 1.0 and 1.4 cm(2)) of silicon gum film (SGF) windows was tested, and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and perforated (1.0 cm(2)) PE/PA bags were used as controls. RESULTS: During 36 days of storage at 2 degrees C, the equilibrium compositions Of O-2/CO2 in LDPE, SGF1 (0.6 cm(2)), SGF2 (1.0 cm(2)) and SGF3 (1.4 cm(2)) were 3.0-5.0/4.5-6.5 kPa, 0.5-1.5/8.5-19.0 kPa, 2.5-5.0/5.5-10.0 kPa, and 6.0-13.0/4.0-6.5 kPa, respectively. Passive MAP treatments improved the quality attributes of S. bigelovii during initial storage; however, the 0.6 cm(2) SGF package markedly accelerated deterioration over the latter storage. The 1.0 cm(2) SGF package was observed to provide the optimal condition for S. bigelovii storage. CONCLUSION: The results show that passive MAP with optimized sizes of SGF windows could be an effective technique for prolonging shelf-life of S. bigelovii. (C) 2009 Society of Chemical Industry