New Researches in Biotechnology - Facultatea de Biotehnologii ...

Proceeding of the 4 rd International Symposium“NEW RESEARCH IN BIOTECHNOLOGY” USAMV Bucharest, Romania, 2011Figure 7 Packaged green lettuce after 3 days of storage4. CONCLUSIONSDuring storage, for the lettuce packaged in BOPP film, the water activity increaseduntil day 4; this can be correlated with lower values recorded for water vapor permeability.Sensory analysis results are correlated with oxygen, carbon dioxide and watervapor permeability properties.Lettuces packaged in D20A-Amp and D20A-C08G films reached a suitable levelof O 2 and CO 2 inside the bag, so the lettuces stored in these bags maintaining theirfreshness for the entire storage period (10 days).During storage, for Envinia mix lettuce (type A), higher values for total mesophilicbacteria were recorded, as evidence of increased sensitivity of Endivia lettuce comparedwith green lettuce, related to minimal processing (cutting, washing).The results indicated that the permeability of the packaging film affects theatmosphere inside the bag, product quality and shelf life.After completing the experiments, comparative analysis of the two types of lettucesalmples showed a higher microbiological stability for type A (Endivia mix lettuce), up to10 days of storage; D20A-Amp film is considered a viable alternative for lettuce packaging.ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. The financial support of "Parteneriate" Program of NationalManagement Program Centre, by means of project no. 71-029/ 2007 for achieving thiscontribution is gratefully acknowledged.164REFERENCES1. X. LIU, S. ARDO, M. BUNNING, J. PARRY, K. ZHOU, C. STUSHNOFF, F. STONIKER, L.Yu, P. KENDALL, Total phenolic content and DPPH radical scavening activity of lettuce(Lactuca sativa L.) growth in Colorado, LWT, 2007, 40: 552-557.2. S. MOELLER, P.F. JACQUES, J.B. Blumberg, The potential role of dietary xanthophylls incataract and age-related macular degeneration. J. Am. Col. Nutr., 19: 522-527, (2000).