New gas sensitive films containing anthocyanin/curcumin for real-time monitoring of strawberries quality

Abstract

Gas sensitive films (GSFs) of polyvinyl alcohol (PA), soluble starch (SS), and polyethylene glycol bis (3-aminopropyl) ether (PGE) containing blueberry anthocyanin (BA), curcumin (CU), and anthocyanin/curcumin complexes were created to monitor the quality changes of strawberries during storage (room temperature, 24 ± 2 °C). Using headspace-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-GC-MS), the volatile aroma gases released during storage of strawberries were analyzed. Results showed that the release of aldehydes was more closely associated to the quality of the strawberries. The BA, CU and BA/CU complexes (mass ratio: 1:2 and 2:1) were well dispersed in GSFs and improved the films' hydrophilicity, however, there was no effect on the water vapor permeability. The four GSFs were employed to monitor strawberry quality changes over the course of storage. The results showed that the changes in color of the four GSFs had a strong correlation with the quality of strawberries, which could be classified as fresh, sub-fresh and spoiled.