Biochemical Changes and Sensory Quality of Shredded and MA-Packaged Iceberg Lettuce |
| |
| Authors: | HANNE HEIMDAL BIRKA FALK KÜHN LEIF POLL LONE MELCHIOR LARSEN |
| |
| Affiliation: | Authors Heimdal and Poll are affiliated with the Dept. of Dairy &Food Science, LMC Center for Advanced Food Studies, The Royal Veterinary &Agricultural Univ., Rolighensvej 30, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark. Author Kühn is with the Dept. of Food Science &Technology, Danish institute of Plant &Soil Science, Kirstinebjergvej 12, DK-5792 Åslev, Denmark. Author Larsen is with the Chemistry Dept., The Royal Veterinary &Agricultural Univ., Thorvaldsensvej 40, DK-1871 Frederiksberg C, Denmark. Corresponding author: Leif Poll. |
| |
| Abstract: | Cultivars of shredded iceberg lettuce (Lactuca sativu L.) ‘Saladin’, ‘Santis’, ‘Telda’ and ‘Roxette’ responded in a parallel way to four modified atmosphere (MA) packaging treatments. Moderate vacuum packaging (mvp) in 80 μm polyethylene (PE) inhibited enzymatic browning over 10-day storage at 5°C. When lettuce was packaged in 80% O2, 20% CO2 (80/20), more browning occured in SL3-bags (59 μm multilayer coextruded film) than in PE-bags. Polyphenol oxidase activity declined during storage in all 4 atmospheres, with lowest activity in PE-80/20. Endogenous ascorbic acid (AA) did not act as an efficient antioxidant in delaying browning. Total carbohydrate content (TC) declined slightly during storage. Tristimulus color measurements correlated highly with visual ratings. |
| |
| Keywords: | Lactuca sativa enzymatic browning polyphenoloxidase ascorbic acid carbohydrates |
|
|
