THE EFFECTS OF THE “GREEN PASSIVE MAP” ON THE EVOLUTION OF THE GASEOUS AND QUALITY PARAMETERS IN STRAWBERRIES

Abstract

The strawberries having an high perishability are more likely off-flavor during the postharvest. The control of volatile composition and
quality of fruits during the postharvest handling is important especially in response to the change of the storage temperature. The objective
of this study was to evaluate the effect of “green” passive MAP using films from natural sources on the evolution of the most important
gaseous and quality maturity indices for the strawberries fruits cv. Portola under the changes of the storage temperature. Strawberries
of cv. Portola were packaged with polypropylene (PP) film used as control, polylactic acid (PLA) and a prototype of non-commercial
biodegradable and compostable film (BIO N.C.) up to 10 days. Fruits were maintained at +2 °C for 7 days and then were shifted at +20
°C for shelf life. The highest fermentative metabolites as aldehyde, ethanol and ethyl acetate (respectively 0.013 µl/l, 2.560 µl/l and
0.830 µl/l) was detected at the end of storage into the PLA due to the highest CO2 (41.4 kPa) and the lowest O2 (2.7 kPa) concentrations
achieved into the MAP. Strawberries stored with the PP and BIO N.C. MAPs globally showed the best qualitative parameters.