The influence of edible coatings and natural antioxidants on fresh-cut potato quality, stability and oil uptake after deep fat frying.

The effect of four edible hydrocolloid coatings (carboxymethyl cellulose, chitosan, pectin and gum arabic) on fresh-cut potato's colour, pH and moisture content during storage was studied. Possibility of coating enrichment with natural olive leaf extract and sodium ascorbate was also evaluated. Coatings scored as the best ones straight after coating or during storage for 7 days at 10 ± 1 °C, were used for deep fat frying of potato. Chitosan was shown to cause significant decrease in pH and browning of potato strips. Pectin was classified as good coating alone but in combination with olive leaf extract showed lower quality parameters of fresh-cut samples compared to control. Only carboxymethyl cellulose and gum arabic itself or enriched with olive leaf extract or sodium ascorbate were shown not to affect colour, pH and moisture during storage. Moreover, these coatings significantly reduced fat content in deep fat fried potato strips, without influence on L*, b*, whiteness index (WI), and ΔE.

Effect of packaging conditions on the shelf-life of chicken frankfurters with and without lactate addition.

Shelf-life of frankfurters depends on various factors such as its composition, packaging material and method used as well as the effect of external conditions (temperature). The objective of this study was to determine the shelf-life of packaged (vacuum, shrink and modified atmosphere, MA) chicken frankfurters during storage at different temperatures. For this purpose regular and with sodium lactate addition chicken frankfurters were produced. For MA packaging (MAP), under gas mixture of 70% N(2) and 30% CO(2), a package consisting of container and heat sealable cover was used. Different laminate composition was used for vacuum and shrink packaging of frankfurters. During frankfurters storage physico-chemical (pH, a(w)), and microbiological (aerobic mesophiles, lactic acid bacteria and total bacterial count) analyses were performed. Packaging materials were analyzed for their barrier characteristic (oxygen permeability). The shelf-life of frankfurters can be extended if packaged in MA (54 days) and shrink (45 days) packaging compared to 36 days of shelf-life in vacuum packaging, at 3 (°)C. Higher shelf-life is obtained for frankfurters with lactate addition, in all packaging conditions, stored at 6 (°)C.

Shelf life of packaged bakery goods--a review.

Packaging requirements for fresh bakery goods are often minimal as many of the products are for immediate consumption. However, packaging can be an important factor in extending the shelf life of other cereal-based goods (toast, frozen products, biscuits, cakes, pastas). Some amount of the texture changes and flavor loss manifest over the shelf life of a soft-baked good can usually be minimized or delayed by effective use of packaging materials. The gains in the extension of shelf life will be application specific. It is recognized that defining the shelf life of a food is a difficult task and is an area of intense research for food product development scientists (food technologists, microbiologists, packaging experts). Proper application of chemical kinetic principles to food quality loss allows for efficiently designing appropriate shelf-life tests and maximizing the useful information that can be obtained from the resulting data. In the development of any new food product including reformulating, change of packaging, or storage/distribution condition (to penetrate into a new market), one important aspect is the knowledge of shelf life.