Development of Two Packaging Approaches Based on Nano Silver Particles for Increasing the Shelf Life of Strawberry

The application of new approaches for packaging valuable fruits such as strawberry has become an attractive research subject. These approaches are used to keep the fruits properties at high quality by increasing storage time.
In this study, two different packing methods (Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) using gas mixture (10% O2, 15% CO2, 75% N2) and Nano Silver Particles were employed. The impact of using these methods on the validity of storage time has been studied. The strawberry packaging using Nano Sliver Particles has been analyzed during 16 days in the poly-ethylene covers with the thickness of 40 microns at the temperature of 50°C. The measures used in the experiments consisted of weigh loss, solid particles in solutions, acidity, pH, fruit tissue hardness, color and the weight percentage of the O2 and CO2 existed in the package.
The results of the two methods on the qualitative properties of strawberry at 5°C and at different time intervals (i.e. 4, 8, 12 and 16 days) indicated that both methods increased the shelf life of the fruit regards to improved sensory characteristics.
The experimental results illustrated that both introduced packaging approaches increased the storage time. The experimental data also indicated that the qualitative characteristics of strawberry, namely fruit color and tissue hardness have increased by using the presented approaches.