• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.85-89
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• 2018

The effects of distribution temperature due to season all changes on quality and storability of baby leaf beet (Beta vulgaris L.) was examined in modified atmosphere (MA) packages. The beet leaf had been harvested at the 10 cm leaf length stage and packaged with an oxygen transmission rate (OTR) film of $1,300cc{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}day^{-1}{\cdot}atm^{-1}$ and then held at 4 different distribution temperatures which were $-2^{\circ}C$, $4^{\circ}C$, $20^{\circ}C$, or $30^{\circ}C$ for 5 hrs and then stored for 18 days at $8^{\circ}C$. The loss of fresh weight of packged baby leaf beet was lowest at the $4^{\circ}C$ treatment, and below 0.6% in all distribution temperature treatments. The atmosphere composition in packages did not show any significant differences among treatments. The oxygen conc. was the highest at 18.0% after the $4^{\circ}C$ treatment, carbon dioxide conc. showed the maximum value of 4% at the $30^{\circ}C$ and $-2^{\circ}C$ treatments, and ethylene conc. was highest at the $10^{\circ}C$ treatment after 10 days in storage. The hardness was the highest at the $4^{\circ}C$ treatment on the final storage day. The $4^{\circ}C$ treatment showed the highest visual quality and the lowest off-odor and aerobic plate count. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a low-temperature distribution system which is controlled under $4^{\circ}C$, because the baby leaf beet's storability and microbial growth are effected even during a short time of 5 hrs during the distribution process.