Effect of packaging on volatile profiles of mulberry tea

This research aimed to investigate the effect of packaging materials and storage time on volatile profiles of mulberry tea. The mulberry tea samples were packaged in linear lowdensity polyethylene laminated aluminum (AL) bag and polypropylene (PP) bag and stored at 30\ub11\ub0C for 18 months. The volatile profiles were monitored using a headspace solid phase microextraction/gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results showed that storage time had no significant impact on the key volatile compounds of the AL packaged samples. However, some volatiles associated with lipid oxidation like hexanal and 4-oxo-2-nonenal were observed to significantly (p<0.05) increase in the PP packaged samples with storage time

Computational shelf-life dating : complex systems approaches to food quality and safety

Shelf-life is defined as the time that a product is acceptable and meets the consumers expectations regarding food quality. It is the result of the conjunction of all services in production, distribution, and consumption. Shelf-life dating is one of the most difficult tasks in food engineering. Market pressure has lead to the implementation of shelf-life by sensory analyses, which may not reflect the full quality spectra. Moreover, traditional methods for shelf-life dating and small-scale distribution chain tests cannot reproduce in a laboratory the real conditions of storage, distribution, and consumption on food quality. Today, food engineers are facing the challenges to monitor, diagnose, and control the quality and safety of food products. The advent of nanotechnology, multivariate sensors, information systems, and complex systems will revolutionize the way we manage, distribute, and consume foods. The informed consumer demands foods, under the legal standards, at low cost, high standards of nutritional, sensory, and health benefits. To accommodate the new paradigms, we herein present a critical review of shelf-life dating approaches with special emphasis in computational systems and future trends on complex systems methodologies applied to the prediction of food quality and safety.Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) - Programa POS-ConhecimentoFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - SFRH/BPD/26133/2005, SFRH/ BPD/20735/200