Effect of chitosan compound preservative combined with modified atmosphere packaging on quality of fresh-cut eggplant during storage

Fresh-cut eggplant is popular with consumers because of its instance and hygiene, however, its shelflife is limited. To prolong the shelflife of fresh-cut eggplant, the effects were studied for modified atmosphere packaging (MAP, 2% CO2＋5% O2＋93% N2) and the combined treatment of preservative solution (1.5% chitosan+10% ascorbic acid+1% CaCl2+2% citric acid) and MAP on the quality of fresh-cut eggplant. The quality indices including sensory quality, browning degree, firmness, polyphenoloxidase (PPO) activity and total bacterial counts were detected during 10 days of storage at (10±1) ℃. After 8 days of storage, the L* value, firmness, PPO activity and total bacterial counts of the control sample were 7566, 7.41 kg/cm2, 68.77 U/(min·g) and 5.52 lg CFU/g, respectively. While the quality indices of the samples treated by the combined treatment were 82.51, 10.05 kg/cm2, 23.70 U/(min·g) and 2.87 lg CFU/g. The results indicated that MAP retarded the browning and softening of eggplant slices and the coating treatment prior to MAP enhanced the effectiveness. The fresh-cut eggplant treated by coating and MAP were still acceptable for cooking after 8 days of storage.