Effect of Passive Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) on Shelf-life Extension of Jackfruit (Artocarpusheterophyllus L.) Bulbs

Abstract

This study was undertaken to investigate the effectiveness of different passive MAP techniques with minimal processing treatments for extending the shelf-life of fresh-cut jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus L.) bulbs kept under low temperature conditions. After treating in a post-harvest solution consisting of CaCl2 (l%w/v) and ascorbic acid (0.02%w/v) for 30 min, 50g pre-cut jackfruit bulbs were placed and sealed with ambient air in Ti;75pm polyethylene (PE) bags, T2; 125pm PE bags, T3; 187.5pm PE bags and T4; 100pm Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) pouches laminated with low density polyethylene (LDPE) to create different passive MAP techniques. They were stored at 9±5°C for 24 days. Randomized Complete Block (RCBD) design was used with 3 replicates for each treatment of the study. Firmness, total soluble solid (TSS), titrable acidity (TA), microbial count and sensory properties were collected at 2-day intervals. Firmness of jackfruit bulbs in different MAP decreased during the storage of period. Food samples in PET pouches (T4) showed significantly (P<0.05) higher firmness than other MAP samples after 20 days (0.4734 N) and 24 days (0.4080 N) where 75pm thickness PE bags recorded the maximum softening in the fruit after 20 days (0.2478 N) and 24 days (0.2428 N). The initial TSS in all treatments significantly increased (p<0.01) from 5.5% to 13.3%, 14.4%, 12.8% and 14% in T|,T2T3and T4 samples after 24 days, respectively. Initial TA was observed as 0.48% and gradually decreased up to 0.23%, 0.12%, 0.13% and 0.16% in T],T2T3and T4 samples up to 6 days, respectively. Jackfruit bulbs in PET pouches showed significantly (P<0.05) higher TA than other MAP techniques after 4 days (0.47%) and 8days (0.39%) of storage period. Initial microbial count of jackfruit samples were 3.09x10'CFU/g and it has increased upto 2.08x106, 7.76x105, 4.57x10s and 1.62xl05 CFU/g in T,,T2T3 and T4 samples respectivelyafter 24 days. Shelf life was derived keeping a threshold overall sensory score of 3.0and they werel4, 18, 20 and 24 days in T|,T2>T3and T4 respectively. According to the results of firmness, acidity and shelf life, PET pouches could be more suitable to pack jackfruit bulbs in domestic refrigerator compared to PE bags for extending the shelf-life.