Greek Coffee Quality Loss During Home Storage: Modeling the Effect of Temperature and Water Activity.

The aim of this study was to monitor and characterize Greek coffee staling during home storage (secondary shelf life, SSL) using sensory evaluation techniques. Storage temperature (T) and product water activity (aw ) are considered as the major factors affecting SSL. Water sorption isotherms fitted to Guggenheim Anderson-de Boer model were used to predict product stability; coffee samples were stable at aw < 0.52. Coffee samples equilibrated at aw = 0.15 (the fresh sample), 0.22, 0.33, and 0.52 were stored at T = 25 °C, 35 °C, and 45 °C under simulated home storage conditions. Samples were obtained at appropriate times for each T and aw condition and sensorially evaluated. Greek coffee brews were prepared and freshly served during sensory evaluation. The use of Weibull hazard analysis provided an effective approach to SSL determination as a function of T and aw . SSL values ranged from 20 (Τ = 45 °C, aw = 0.52) to 104 days (Τ = 25 °C, aw = 0.15). Quality loss based on coffee aroma changes (aroma quality, aroma intensity, aftertaste, off-flavor) was also studied (Si , sensory scoring using 9-point magnitude scale) and kinetically modeled. Quality loss rates (ki ) were calculated and used to predict SSL values. Based on the results of both Weibull hazard analysis and sensory scoring of individual aroma characteristics, it was concluded that the lowest SSL was calculated for aw = 0.52 at T = 35 °C to 45 °C. The temperature dependence of aftertaste, aroma quality loss, and off-flavor production was not statistically significant for 0.15 < aw < 0.33 (P > 0.05); the aroma intensity was the most sensitive parameter. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Secondary shelf life (SSL) represents the time after pack opening during which a food maintains an acceptable quality level. During home/catering usage, coffee is not consumed immediately after pack opening. During consumption, quality degradation reactions proceed with higher rates due to variable storage conditions mainly related to atmosphere changes in the pack, leading to the entrance of oxygen/moisture and temperature. Therefore, SSL is important, and can be used as a tool for product management during consumption reducing food waste. There is a lack of studies dealing with SSL prediction of coffee, while no studies have been carried out on Greek coffee.

Evaluation and modelling of osmotic pre-treatment of peach using alternative agents in a multiple-component solution.

BACKGROUND: Peach is a perishable fruit of great importance for the Greek food export market which is prone to rapid deterioration after harvesting. Its short shelf life can be substantially prolonged by applying an appropriate osmotic dehydration (OD) pre-treatment, which is a mild, non-thermal procedure. The aim of this study was to describe mass transfer and quality retention induced by the OD process. RESULTS: Peach pieces were immersed in tertiary solutions of glycerol, erythritol, steviol glucosides and mineral salts at pre-selected OD conditions (25-45 °C for 3-240 min, wfruit /wsolution = 1:5). Water loss (WL), solid gain (SG), water activity (aw ) as well as representative quality indices (colour, texture) were measured during OD, showing that osmotically dehydrated peach presented significant aw reduction (from 0.97 to 0.88) combined with quality retention. CONCLUSION: This research showed that OD can be an effective pre-processing step in the production of intermediate moisture novel products. A second-degree polynomial model was developed describing adequately the effect of OD time and temperature and glycerol concentration on WL, SG, aw , colour and texture of osmotically dehydrated peach, and analysis of variance was applied to identify those factors that significantly affect the aforementioned parameters. It was concluded that OD using alternative osmotic agents is an efficient method with respect to product colour and texture retention, allowing for the production of novel products with extended shelf life. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.