Difference in Modified Atmosphere Packaging for Fresh Produce: Whole vs Cut Explained

• Low-processed or cut fresh produce has higher rates of respiration, transpiration, ethylene production, and microbial spoilage than whole produce.
• Gas composition, packing material permeability, and use of additional hurdles differ for whole and cut fresh produce.
• It is advisable to monitor MAP headspace gas composition in the supply chain for quality control.

Cut and ready-to-eat fruit and vegetables are increasingly in demand and sought by 19% of consumers globally. Beyond convenience and lifestyle choices for consumers, low-processed fresh produce adds value to food and benefits the supply chain economically. Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) serves not just as a packaging method but also as a vital food preservation technique for whole and fresh-cut produce, extending shelf life. However, the difference between cut fresh produce and whole foods must be considered for effective MAP. This article covers the major differences in properties of whole and cut fresh produce and how they influence MAP specifications.

Cuts Differ from Whole Fresh Produce

The demand for fresh fruits and vegetables, driven by their numerous health benefits, is increasing consumer consumption of low-processed fruits and vegetables. Low-processed fresh produce has nearly the same nutritional value, freshness, and flavor as whole fresh produce. In the USA, it can constitute 48% of the market for fresh produce.

Low-processed fresh produce undergoes washing, cleaning, peeling, slicing, cutting, or shredding. However, processing increases physiological stress and the risk of microbial contamination, leading to spoilage of fresh produce and reducing its shelf life, nutritional value, sensory quality, and safety. High processing levels damage the tissues of vegetables and fruits and cause abiotic stress. Quality deterioration includes loss of flavor, discoloration, rapid softening, senescence, loss of vitamins, and shrinkage. Several foodborne outbreaks have also been reported with the consumption of low-processed fresh produce.

Figure 1. “The reasons for quality deterioration of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables,” Faisal et al. (2024). (Image credits: https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/16/2769)

Some of the major changes that occur due to low processing are discussed below. Also see Figure 1.

Enhanced Respiration Rate: Low processing triggers a cascade of physiological stress responses in fresh produce plant tissues, the chief of which is an increase in respiration rate, a challenge in postharvest management also of whole fruits and vegetables. However, wounding dramatically increases the respiratory rate, as wounded cells increase metabolic activity to provide the necessary energy for repair processes, leading to carbohydrate depletion and increased fruit senescence. For example, whole pear respiration increased from 6 mg of CO2 kg−1 h−1 to 25 mg of CO2 kg−1 h−1 after cutting. A lettuce head releases 12 mg of CO2 kg−1 h−1, while a lettuce leaf’s respiration increases to 23 CO2 kg−1 h−1 at the same temperatures of zero degrees Celsius. Higher temperatures can increase respiration rates in both whole and cut fresh produce.

Increased Transpiration: Whole and cut fresh produce can contain 80-95% water. Cleaning, peeling, and cutting can remove protective coverings such as wax and cuticle, which increase transpiration (water loss) from low-processed fresh produce. Moreover, cutting or shredding will increase the surface-to-volume ratio, depending on the size and type of the cut or shred, thereby increasing transpiration. Transpiration causes loss of freshness, shrinkage, and weight loss. Turgor loss due to transpiration, which reduces tissue mass by 4-6%, is enough to cause wilting and shrinkage. Transpiration rates are influenced by temperature and relative humidity (RH). At a given RH, increases in temperature will enhance transpiration rate.

More Ethylene Production: Cutting the fruit increases ethylene biosynthesis in response to wounding and tissue damage. Ethylene causes senescence, accelerating color change, browning, loss of texture, and softening. Several non-climacteric fresh produce, like cucumbers and strawberries, can be sensitive to external ethylene sources. An increase in respiration rate can enhance ethylene production in climactic fruits, compounding the effects of low processing.

Increased Color Loss: External color, the first quality change consumers notice, is affected by low processing, leading to browning and loss of greenness.

• Cut surface browning: The exposed tissues turn brown on exposure to air due to the production of brown or black pigments in fruits and vegetables. It is the result of several browning enzymes, oxidation, and phenolic compounds.
• Greenness loss: Fruits and vegetables are green due to chlorophyll, which deteriorates and fades to yellow. The mechanical damage from peeling and slicing exposes cells to oxygen, causing oxidative stress that also accelerates the loss of green color. For example, sliced cucumbers, lettuce, kiwifruit, and asparagus lose their green color when the cut tissue is exposed to air and light because of increased oxidative reactions.

Increased Texture Loss: The texture of cut fresh produce degrades faster than whole products due to membrane disruption and enzymatic degradation of the cell wall. Leakage of osmotic solute, reduced turgor, higher cell degradation, senescence, and weight loss can make tissue soft, thereby reducing texture and firmness.

Microbial Spoilage: Microbial contamination is higher in cut fresh produce than in whole products. Peeling, cutting, and bruising disrupt the natural barriers in the tissues of cut produce, damage cells, and increase the likelihood of microbial entry. Cell and tissue damage also induces cytoplasmic leakage, increasing moisture essential for microbial colonization. Moreover, the release of amino acids and sugars acts as nutrients for microorganisms. Tissue injury increases microbial contamination and spoilage by bacteria (Enterobacter, Listeria monocytogenes, and Pseudomonas), yeasts, and molds. Microbes multiply faster in cut fresh produce than in whole produce; for example, microbial count is higher in cut lettuce leaves than in intact heads and leaves. Microbial growth increases the temperature of fresh produce, its respiration rate, and its senescence.

All factors that reduce shelf life in whole fresh produce are even more pronounced and accelerated in cut produce. Therefore, the shelf life of cut fresh produce is far shorter than that of whole fresh produce in ambient environmental conditions.

Modified Atmosphere Packaging

Conventional methods for storing whole fresh produce, such as freezing, dehydration, and curing, are not effective for cut produce. Low-processed fresh produce is best preserved by

Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP).

MAP was a technique developed in the 1960s. It aims to extend shelf-life by reducing natural deterioration and microbial spoilage by altering the gas composition in the package headspace. A combination of oxygen (O2), carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen (N2), and sometimes argon is used as the gas mixture. MAP can be passive or active.

• Passive MAP: The natural processes of the produce are used to obtain and maintain the desired gas composition over time.
• Active MAP: In these packages, the air is replaced with a combination of gases and maintained using agents such as O2 scavengers, ethylene scavengers, CO2 absorbers, etc.

Three main factors considered in both passive and active MAPs are the production physiology, polymer engineering, and converting technology.

• Produce properties: The various physiological changes in produce, along with external factors such as temperature, relative humidity, and light, are considered.
• Polymer engineering: This involves selecting packaging materials based on their physical, chemical, and gas transmission properties.
• Converting technology: It covers the development and use of polymers, films, inks, and additives to make mono- or multilayer packages.

Designing effective MAP systems requires information on respiration rates under various temperature and relative humidity conditions, and on the effects of atmospheres on physiological processes and microbial activity. Therefore, parameters used for whole fresh produce may or may not be valid for designing MAP for cut produce to extend storage and transport time. Each MAP solution is tested on whole and cut fresh produce using various packing materials and gas compositions, stored at various temperatures, to determine the optimal specific MAP parameters.

MAP for Whole and Cut Fresh Produce

MAP is effective for preserving both whole and cut fresh produce, but differences in gas composition and packaging materials may occur. MAP can reduce respiration and positively affect color retention and internal chemical quality parameters, such as soluble solids content and titrable acidity.

Gas composition

The usual gas combination used for intact fresh produce is low O2 (1 to 5%) and CO2 (2-5%), compared to ambient air, to reduce respiration rates and curb microbial activity. However, care is taken not to displace aerobic respiration with anaerobic respiration, as this can lead to fermentation and decay. MAP with low-density polyethylene preserves fruit quality and prolongs shelf life by 4 weeks at 10 °C and by 3 weeks at 15 °C, compared with 1 week without MAP.

Low O2 and high CO2 can also be useful for cut fruits, such as apples, pears, mangoes, nectarines, and peaches.

However, MAP with high O2 content and moderate CO2 is recommended for low-processed fresh produce. It prevents enzymic discoloration, prevents anaerobic fermentation, and inhibits both aerobic and anaerobic microbes. Other gases, such as argon and nitrous oxide, can also be used. For example,

• Cut pineapples can be stored at higher gas concentrations of 6% O2 and 14% CO2 for seven days at 10◦C.
• For example, sliced carrots in MAP of 80% O2 and 10% CO2 preserved cut carrot quality better than at 5% O2.
• Active MAP with a novel gas mixture, such as argon and CO2, is also used to preserve the firmness of apple slices and reduce ethylene production.
• In some cases, active MAP did not prolong shelf life in cut lettuce, where low O2 reduced browning but increased Listeria monocytogenes

Film permeability

Biodegradable films are increasingly used instead of polyethylene films in MAP. Films used for whole fresh produce have low permeability to prevent transpiration and loss of firmness. For cut fresh produce, packaging materials with higher gas and ethylene permeability, or with scavengers and absorbers, are necessary to cope with higher respiration and ethylene production rates.

Active MAP with active containers and films is preferred for cutting fresh produce over those with scavenger and absorber sachets. The high moisture content in MAPs used with cut fresh produce can dissolve the contents of sachets, which may contain toxic chemicals, contaminating the food. Moreover, active packaging materials have greater contact and are more efficient at preserving quality, are lower in cost, and are smaller in size.

Hurdles

MAP alone is not always completely effective in controlling quality and microbial spoilage in cut fresh produce. Using a combination of MAP and hurdles or barriers is more effective. These hurdles are most often edible coatings. The synergistic effect of MAP and edible coatings is better than that of either factor alone in slowing physiological processes and improving taste and color. For example, edible chitosan coatings and MAP extend the shelf life of sliced mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus).

Over 60 hurdles are known, including acidity, water activity, preservatives, and competitive micro-organisms, etc.

There is a difference in the extension of shelf life by MAP for whole and cut fresh produce. MAP extends shelf life by weeks for whole fresh produce, but only by a few days for minimally processed fresh produce. It, however, mirrors trends in shelf life, which are measured in weeks for whole fruits and in days for cut produce.

Technology for MAP

Since gas composition is the main factor in MAP, the headspace is closely monitored in the supply chain. Felix Instruments Applied Food Science offers F-920 Check It! Gas Analyzer for headspace and MAP analysis. It can measure O2 and CO2 in real-time. The portable, small tool is easy to use at all stages of the supply chain, including by retailers under conditions ranging from 0-50°C and 0-90% humidity.

Contact us at Felix Instruments Applied Food Science for more information on the headspace gas analyzer.

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