Premium
EFFECT OF MODIFIED ATMOSPHERES ON PIGMENT AND ANTIOXIDANT RETENTION OF BETEL LEAF ( PIPER BETEL L. )
Author(s) -
RAI DEEPAK R.,
CHOURASIYA VIKAS K.,
JHA SHYAM N.,
WANJARI ONKAR D.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of food biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.507
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1745-4514
pISSN - 0145-8884
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-4514.2010.00503.x
Subject(s) - piper , betel , modified atmosphere , phytochemical , chlorophyll , shelf life , chemistry , raw material , food science , horticulture , botany , biology , structural engineering , organic chemistry , nut , engineering
Betel leaves were stored for 10 days at 20C under modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) to assess the impact of differential in‐pack gaseous atmospheres on the pigments and an antioxidant. Under all the packaging treatments, chlorophyll was maintained during the entire storage period, and the final retention levels were highly influenced by package headspace atmosphere dynamics. Among different packaging treatments, the in‐pack partial pressures of 2.5 kPa for O 2 and 6.2 kPa for CO 2 , respectively, for the film packages containing 750 g of betel leaves, resulted in better retention of chlorophyll. The β‐carotene content remained largely unaffected. Results suggested that although the build‐up of CO 2 is necessary for the prevention of browning and maintenance of chlorophyll in the betel leaves. However, either the packaging film with appropriate permeabilities for O 2 and CO 2 or in‐pack weight of betel leaves might be such that equilibrated O2 partial pressures could be still higher (9 kPa) to effect only a beneficial increase in the phenolic content.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Betel leaf has an enormous market around the world, and the crop, worth billions of Indian Rupees, is exported from India. Traditional packaging, handling, storage and transportation techniques reduce the shelf life and its various nutritional and phytochemical components. This research has focused on the application of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) technology for the packaging of betel leaf for retail handling and storage, which is, at present, carried out in ice boxes or gunny bags. The results of the study have implied that the pigments and phenolic content of betel leaf can be sufficiently maintained in polypropylene film packages, which shows the potential of MAP for the packaging of betel leaf. Utilization of the results of this research is likely to benefit the wholesaler and the retailer in the value chain to better maintain its shelf‐life and various physicochemical properties, as compared with that obtained using traditional storage techniques.