Authors : G.S.V. Raghavan and V. Orsat
Abstract: The nowadays-great interest for cranberries has been reflected in the high demand for this fruit out of the traditional consuming season. This work presents a study of modified atmosphere packaging in order to extend the post harvest life of fresh cranberries. About 35 kg of fresh cranberries harvested by hand in two fields in the region of Qu?bec, Canada were randomly packaged in bags of 200g. Four kinds of plastic films (Cryovac, Dartek by Dupont, and two types of commercially available plastic bags) were used. Both the Cryovac and the Dupont bags were vacuum-sealed. All packages were stored at 4 C. During 16 weeks the color, the pH, the Brix, the texture, the moisture content and the general appearance were monitored. The cranberries stored under anaerobic conditions revealed an increase of color intensity (anthocyanine content). These packages also showed cranberries with the lowest superficial color difference from the fresh cranberries, and a 30% less fruit rejection than the other cranberries. The texture tests demonstrated an initial tenderness for vacuum packaging that did not increase with storage time as experienced by the other packaging.
G.S.V. Raghavan and V. Orsat , 2004. Storage of Cranberries in Plastic Packaging. Journal of Food Technology, 2: 28-34.