Use of image analysis to determine the shelf-life of an apple compote with wine

Abstract

This research aimed to understand how the storage conditions change the appearance of an apple compote added with white wine (ACWW) during storage at different temperatures (20, 30, and 40 °C) for 63 days. Microbiological quality, color parameters, and pH were monitored. The CIE L*, a*, and b* color variables were measured through image analysis. The parameters associated with the color changes during storage were the most critical quality indices of the ACWW, especially the overall color difference (ΔE), since it presented the larger velocity constants, fitting to the first-order reaction kinetic model. Therefore, ΔE was selected as a critical parameter to estimate shelf-life but fitted with the first-order fractional conversion model, which provided a shelf-life of 45.64 days at 20 °C. The shelf-life decreased with increasing storage temperature. In conclusion, the results demonstrated the applicability of the image analysis and the kinetics-based accelerated shelf-life testing approach to obtain faster insight into quality attributes changes, mainly color changes in compotes and similar products.