Influence of ultra-high barrier packaging on the shelf-life of microwave-assisted thermally sterilized chicken pasta

Abstract

This accelerated shelf life study of a ready-to-eat meal processed with a microwave-assisted thermal sterilization (MATS) system aimed to evaluate the performance of double metal oxide coated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) layers-based ultra-high barrier packaging along with ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH)-based pouches, and aluminum (AL) foil-based pouches (served as control). First, we evaluated barrier changes in the two types of pouches (double-layered PET and EVOH) caused by MATS processing. Next, we determined the influence of barrier properties on the physical, chemical and sensory quality of MATS-processed chicken pasta meals at accelerated storage conditions at 49 °C. Sensory evaluation was also done at lower storage temperature of 38 °C. Results demonstrated that MATS processing did not affect the barrier properties of double metal oxide coated PET pouches, however, it significantly influenced the barrier properties of EVOH-based pouches. After storage at 49 °C for 60 days, there was a small total color change (ΔE = 3.5) in chicken pasta meals in the double coated film pouches. This result was similar to that obtained for aluminum foil pouches (p > 0.05), but significantly lower than that for the EVOH pouches (ΔE = 5.5). The double metal oxide coated PET packaging provided an excellent barrier against lipid oxidation similar to that of aluminum (AL) foil-based pouches. A trained sensory panel scored the recipe between 6.0 and 6.45 immediately after MATS processing on a labelled effective magnitude (LAM) scale from 1 to 9 (worst to best quality). Results indicate that the newly developed double-layered PET pouches offer an excellent alternative to higher density metal foil-based packaging.