Effect of packaging material and oxygen concentration on quality of Ghavoot during the storage

Ghavoot is an Iranian traditional food product that prepared by a combination of several types of plant seeds mixed with sugar. The lack of appropriate packaging caused Ghavoot exposed to environment conditions, which leads to oxidation of this product and reduce its nutritional value and marketability. In this study, different types of packaging materials including nylon, the Polyester/ Aluminum/ polyethylene (PET/AL/PE) and the Polyester /Aluminum / Low-Density Polyethylene (PET/AL/LDPE) with different concentrations of oxygen inside the packaging (zero, 5 and 21%) were used to maintain quality properties of Ghavoot. The results showed that samples stored in the PET/Al/LDPE packaging under vacuum, had fewer moisture changes during storage compared with other treatments, as a result, the least changes in the color parameters of Ghavoot occurred. Increasing the concentration of oxygen inside the packaging resulted in higher peroxide, anisidine and totox values as well as the higher total acidity of the Ghavoot's oil. Keeping Ghavoot in the three-layer PET/Al/LDPE pouches under vacuum condition, caused the lipid oxidation to be delayed during the storage. Results of sensory properties showed that increasing the oxygen concentration inside the packaging caused the average score for product flavor to decrease as a result of rancidity development.