Abstract
This study is based on the need to improve packaging sustainability in the food industry. Its aim was to assess the performance of a recyclable plastic material for semi-hard sheep's cheese wedges packaging as an alternative to conventional non-sustainable plastic materials. Four different packaging treatments (air, vacuum, and CO2/N2 gas mixtures 50/50 and 80/20% (v/v)) were studied. Changes in gas headspace composition, sensory properties, cheese gross composition, weight loss, pH, colour, and texture profile were investigated at 5 ± 1 °C storage for 56 days. The sensory analysis indicated that vacuum packaging scored the worst in paste appearance and holes, and air atmosphere the worst in flavour; it was concluded that cheeses were unfit from day 14-21 onwards. Air and vacuum packaging were responsible for most of the significant changes identified in the texture profile analysis, and most of these happened in the early stages of storage. The colour parameters a* and b* differentiated the air packaging from the rest of the conditions. As in previous studies using conventional plastic materials, modified atmosphere packaging, either CO2/N2 50/50 or 80/20% (v/v), was the most effective preserving technique to ensure the quality of this type of cheese when comparing air and vacuum packaging treatments.
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