• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.1304-1309
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• 1999

The respiratory characteristics and quality attributes of mature green mume fruits as influenced by modified atmosphere packaging(MAP) conditions during storage at 25oC for 8 days were investigated. The quality attributes of mume fruits were evaluated in terms of fresh weight loss, physiological injury and yellowing. The packaging materials used for MAP were low density polyethylene(LDPE) films with various different thicknesses. Yellowing and fresh weight loss of mume fruits were noticeably reduced by the packaging treatments with LDPE A and B. The physiological injury of the fruits during storage was found to be more severe in LDPE C than others. For LDPE A and B, the oxygen and carbon dioxide contents within the packages of Mume fruits maintained at the levels of 2~3% and 7~8%, respectively. With respect to visual quality, MAP prolonged the shelf life of the fruits much longer compared with the unsealed control. From the experimental results, it is suggested that the LDPE films with the gas trans mission rates of about 2,100 O2 ml/m2.day.atm and 6,700 CO2 ml/m2.day.atm would be proper for MAP of mature green mume fruits during storage at ambient temperature.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.148-153
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• 2002

Effect of the thickness of low density polyethylene(LDPE) Film as packaging material on changes in physicochemical characteristics of mature-green mume (Prunus mume Sieb. et Zucc) fruits during storage at different temperatures(0, 10 and 25$\^{C}$) were investigated. Fruit samples stored in pouches with 30㎛ thickness of LDPE film maintained well not only external qualities such as Shape and firmness, but also internal chemical properties such as pH, acidity, the content of soluble solid and chlorophyll, and color, comparing with samples stored without packaging material or in other pouches with different film thickness(20 and 40㎛). From the results, it was found that the maintenance of quality of mature-green mume fruits during storage at 0, 10 and 25$\^{C}$ closely related to the changes in respiratory conditions for fruits affected by the film thickness of the packaging material.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.149-154
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• 2003

Changes in mineral (Ca, Mg) contents and pectic substances of mature-green 'Nanko' Mume fruits hermetically packaged in 0.03 mm low density polyethylene (LDPE) films with and without gas absorbents were examined during storage at $25^{\circ}C$ for 10 days. Each packaging contained 10 g $Ca(OH)_2$ as a carbon dioxide scavenger, 30 g $KMnO_4$ as an ethylene scrubber or their mixture. In the presence of the ethylene scrubber, losses in mineral contents of alcohol insoluble solids and water soluble pectin were remarkably suppressed, whereas no significant difference was observed in the Ca content between the fresh fruit and those stored for 10 days. Fruits packaged with the ethylene absorbent retained higher amount of pectic substances than those with other packaging treatments. Degradation of the pectic substances into small molecules was also noticeably reduced when the ethylene scrubber was used. Overall results showed that the combination of the gas permeable film and the ethylene absorbent could be applied to mature-green Mume fruits as an effective packaging method to retard the texture softening during storage at the ambient temperature.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.1036-1042
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• 2002

During storage at $25^{\circ}C$, the effect of gas absorbents, such as carbon dioxide scavenger, ethylene absorber, and their combinations, on respiration characteristics and quality attributes of mature-green Mume fruits packaged in $30\;{\mu}m$ low density polyethylene (LDPE) film was examined. Changes in quality attributes of the fruits were observed in terms of weight loss, titratable acidity, pH, fish firmness, color, water-soluble solid, and chlorophyll contents. In the presence of ethylene absorber $(KMnO_4)$, the physiological injury was remarkably suppressed, and there was no significant injury in Mume fruits at $25^{\circ}C$ for 10 days. Yellowing and softening were also noticeably reduced by the combination of plastic film packaging and inclusion of ethylene absorber. The respiration rate was slower in fruits sealed with ethylene absorber than in those with absorbent-free packaging. Using ethylene absorber, levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide were maintained at 2-3 and 7-8%, respectively, during storage at $25^{\circ}C$ for 10 days. The addition of carbon dioxide scavenger $(Ca(OH)_2)$, negatively affected the quality attributes and respiration characteristics of the fruits. Overall results showed that ethylene removal by gas absorbent in the film packages significantly prolonged the shelf life of the fruits at ambient temperature.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.621-628
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• 2002

Effect of the thickness of packaging film on the ripening of mature-green mume (Prunus mume Sieb. et Zucc) fruit was investigated by measuring physicochemical changes of the fruit during storage. Fruits were packaged using low density polyethylene (LDPE) films with thicknesses of 20, 30, and 40$\mu$m and stored at the room temperature. The physicochemical properties such as contents of various pectic substances, molecular weight distribution of soluble pectic substances, and surface image of the fruit were determined during storage of 8 days. In general, regardless of the thickness of the films applied, a content of water-soluble pectin (WSP) in the fruit was increased during storage, but both contents of HCI- soluble pectin (HSP), and Ca and Mg in total alcohol-insoluble solids were decreased. Sephacryl S-300 gel filtration study revealed that fractions of high molecular weight HSP and WSP decomposed into lower molecular weight pectins during storage. The scanning electronic microscope also identified a significant structural change of the fruit skin over the storage time. It could be concluded from the results that fruits packaged with LDPE 30${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ film maintained the highest physicochemical quality of green mume fruit during storage.