Assessment of the Influence of Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) and Apricot tree Gum (Prunus armeniaca L) on Preserving Quality and Improvement of Strawberry Shelf Life

The aim of the present research was to investigate the effect of the combined use of apricot tree gum (Prunus armeniaca L gum exudates (PAGE)) coating with different concentrations (0, 5, 10 and 15%) and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) with different oxygen concentrations (4%, 12% and 21%) on the qualitative and physicochemical properties of strawberry fruit. For this purpose, the texture and sensory properties of strawberry as well as anthocyanin and ascorbic acid contents in strawberry samples were evaluated over the storage period. As expected, with increasing storage time, hardness of the tested samples decreased (P≤0.05) which may be attributed to an increase in metabolic reactions arise from cellular respiration. In the PAGE-coated samples, the hardness of the tissue was maintained for a long period of time. Additionally, packaging of the samples at low oxygen level preserved their textural quality. From a sensory point of view, color and textural properties of the tested samples were investigated. As expected, the coated and preserved samples in the presence of low oxygen had the highest color, texture and overall acceptability ratings. Chemical analysis of the samples also revealed that the coated and packed ones that stored at the atmosphere with a low concentration of oxygen had the highest amount of ascorbic acid and anthocyanin. Overall, the results of this study confirmed that the use of combined coating process by PAGE and MAP is a useful technique to preserve the quality of strawberry during storage period.