Effect of Modified Atmosphere Packaging on Storage Life of Cucumber

Abstract

Fruits and vegetables are among the most important horticultural products that play an important role in meeting food needs and human health. This group of agricultural products are perishable due to high moisture content and major part of them are destroyed after harvest. According to the recommendations of the World Health Organization, every person should consume 2-4 units of fruits and 3-5 units of vegetables daily. In some regions the climatic changes cause fruits and vegetables not to be produced in all seasons, endangers the health of the people in those areas. Making this important food group available in such conditions improves nutritional status. This research was conducted to investigate the effect of modified atmosphere packaging to increase the storage life of cucumber in the year of 2019 in the Food Technology Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, Herat University. Cucumbers packed in different plastic and stored at ambient temperature25 ± 5°C and RH of 35 ± 5%. The result indicated that plastic materials were more efficient in maintaining quality of cucumber by providing microclimate around the products which could increase the storage life of cucumbers up to 18 days compared to unpackaged cucumbers which had only 6 days of storage life. Modified atmosphere packaging acts as an excellent technique in preventing loss and maintaining the quality of these products for long term storage and transportation. By Applying MAP techniques fresh products can be available throughout the year in all regions.