Evaluation of the Storage Characteristics in Maintaining the Overall Quality of Whole and Fresh-Cut Romaine Lettuce during MA Storage
2021
In-Lee Choi | Joo-Hwan Lee | Dam-Hee Choi | Li-Xia Wang | Ho-Min Kang
This study aimed to examine the effect of modified atmosphere (MA) storage on the quality and storability of romaine lettuce. Whole and fresh-cut romaine lettuce were packaged with 1300; 10,000; 50,000; 100,000 cc m<sup>−2</sup>·day<sup>−1</sup>·atm<sup>−1</sup> O<sub>2</sub> transmission rate (OTR) films and stored at 2 or 8 °C for 15 days. The respiration and ethylene production rates before pre-cooling were higher in fresh-cut lettuce than in whole romaine lettuce. The reduction in fresh weight for whole and fresh-cut romaine lettuce during storage was less than 0.5%. The CO<sub>2</sub> concentration was less than 2%, except for the 1300 cc treatment (at 8 °C for whole and fresh-cut lettuce) and 10,000 cc (in fresh-cut lettuce). At the end date of storage, the overall quality of the whole lettuce was good, the off-odor was lower in the 10,000 cc treatment, and the 50,000 cc treatment at 8 °C led to good overall quality in the fresh-cut lettuce. The chlorophyll content of the whole lettuce was maintained at a higher level in the treatment of 10,000 cc at 8 °C, while it was higher in the 50,000 cc treatments at 2 and 8 °C in the fresh-cut lettuce. Correlation and PCA confirmed that the main factors affecting the storability and quality of romaine lettuce were fresh weight loss rate, off-odor, and the concentration of CO<sub>2</sub>. In addition, the storage characteristics of whole and fresh-cut lettuce were opposite to 0 in PC1 and PC2, indicating that the storage characteristics were different depending on the processing type.
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