The effect of modified atmosphere packaging on the quality of minimally processed apples

The study compares different conditions of packaging apple slices subjected to vacuum impregnation with ascorbic acid, 4-hexylresorcinol, calcium chloride and sucrose. Packaging in modified atmosphere (MA) containing: 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10% CO2, 2% O2 (nitrogen to 100%), packaging in nitrogen atmosphere with 2% O2, vacuum packaging and air packaging were applied. Vacuum packaging of apple slices subjected to processing made it possible to obtain the product with best sensory quality among all the tested packaging methods. The most effective method in terms of microflora growth inhibition on apple slices turned out to be modified atmosphere containing 4% CO2 and nitrogen atmosphere packaging. In case of vacuum packaging and air packaging counts of some groups of microorganisms during the storage of apple slices increased slightly, which however did not have a decisive effect on the microbiological quality of the product.