Study of Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. Var. Italic) Packaging with Modified Atmosphere Storage and Top Icing During Transportation

Abstract

Respiration rate of horticultural products is influenced by temperature and gas compositions (O2 and CO2) surrounding of the product. One of the packaging technology method is Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP). In the MAP, the CO2 concentration is higher and O2 concentration is lower than atmosphere compositions gas. Many factors need to develop of gas composition on the MAP such as permeability and thickness of the film, temperature, rate of O2 consumption and CO2 production by the product, and weight of the product in the package. The aim of this research are: (1) to examine the effect of temperature on the respiration of broccoli; (2) to examine the influence of plastic film thickness and storage temperature to gas composition and quality of broccoli, and (3) to study the effect of top icing and transport simulation on broccoli packaged with MA Packaging. The results showed that the average of O2 consumption and CO2 production rate decreased with decreasing of storage temperature. The respiration rate of broccoli held at 5, 10, 15, 20 and 27 oC were 23.3, 47.7, 67.5, 78.7, and 105.2 ml/kg h, respectively for O2 consumption; and 23.4, 47.2, 66.8, 79.2 and 105.9 ml/kg h, respectively of CO2 production. The most extreme color change occured at high storage temperature (27 oC and 20 oC), namely in the florets (flowers) of broccoli from dark green to yellow. MAP on broccoli with storage temperature and the thickness of plastic film treatments was very influential on the gas composition inside the packaging. The nearby to 4% for O2 and 5% for CO2 consentrations were LDPE plastic film thickness of 40 and 50 μm; they had 9.9 and 9.6% of O2 consumption, respectively; and had 5.6 and 7.1% of CO2 concentration, respectively. Transport simulation of top icing broccoli packaged in styrofoam box influenced significantly on the thickness of plastic film and amount of ice, both of in one hour and 2 hours simulations.