Effects of modified atmosphere packaging with different sizes of silicon gum film windows on Salicornia bigelovii Torr. storage

BACKGROUND: Salicornia bigelovii Torr. is a promising seasonal plant using seawater production but perishable with short shelf‐life under ambient conditions. To develop a modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) for extension of S. bigelovii shelf‐life, a nonselective polyethylene/polyamide (PE/PA) bag combining different sizes (0.6, 1.0 and 1.4 cm 2 ) of silicon gum film (SGF) windows was tested, and low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) and perforated (1.0 cm 2 ) PE/PA bags were used as controls. RESULTS: During 36 days of storage at 2 °C, the equilibrium compositions of O 2 /CO 2 in LDPE, SGF1 (0.6 cm 2 ), SGF2 (1.0 cm 2 ) and SGF3 (1.4 cm 2 ) were 3.0–5.0/4.5–6.5 kPa, 0.5–1.5/8.5–19.0 kPa, 2.5–5.0/5.5–10.0 kPa, and 6.0–13.0/4.0–6.5 kPa, respectively. Passive MAP treatments improved the quality attributes of S. bigelovii during initial storage; however, the 0.6 cm 2 SGF package markedly accelerated deterioration over the latter storage. The 1.0 cm 2 SGF package was observed to provide the optimal condition for S. bigelovii storage. CONCLUSION: The results show that passive MAP with optimized sizes of SGF windows could be an effective technique for prolonging shelf‐life of S. bigelovii . Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry