The Evaluation of Physical Parameters of Gooseberries Using Different Pretreatment Technologies and Packaging Materials

Gooseberries (Ribes uva-crispa) of cultivar 'Tukuma Konfeksu' were collected at the fully ripe stage. Experiments were carried out at the Faculty of Food Technology of the Latvia University of Agriculture. The aim of this experiment was to evaluate the changes in physical parameters of gooseberries pre-treated with ozone and disinfection solution "Natureseal-AS5", packed in two different materials and stored 22 days. One part of the samples was pre-treated with 1.5% disinfection solution "Natureseal-AS5", the second part was pre-treated with gaseous ozone, and the third part was packed untreated as a control group. Samples of 200+/-5 g were packaged in polymer pouches, hermetically sealed with a MULTIVAC C300 vacuum chamber machine, and stored at 3.0+/-1.0 degrees C. Fruits were packaged in two materials: biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP), and Amcor AgriFresh (oriented polypropylene (OPP) with antifog coating). The physical properties - mass changes, firmness, colour, changes of atmosphere content (CO2 and O-2) in package headspace, and microbial loads were analysed before packaging and after 5, 8, 12, 15, 19 and 22 days of storage. The gas composition most of all changed in the headspace of the packages during the first 5 days of storage when as a result of gooseberries' breathing a rapid decrease of O-2 and increase of CO2 occurred. The mainly changes of physical parameters after 22 days of storage was detected in samples pre-treated with ozone.