Monitoring the Shelf-Life of Minimally Processed Fresh-Cut Apple Slices By Physical–Chemical Analysis and Electronic Nose

Fresh-cut apples, in slices or in cubes, are minimally processed products, which are currently collecting a greatinterest by fruit marketers for their promising diffusion. Their shelf life, from a microbiological point of view, has beenfixed about 2 or 3 weeks under refrigeration. However in a few days they undergo biochemical degradations withproduction of off-flavors and texture breakdown. In this work, the change of aromatic fingerprint of apple slicespackaged in air and in a modified atmosphere (with 100% N2) and stored at 4°C was measured, by using acommercial electronic nose. The obtained data were also compared with sensory evaluation of judge’s panel.Moreover, quality parameters such as total acidity, total soluble solids and firmness were determined at differentstorage times (0, 4, 8 and 12 days).The data show that the electronic nose is able to discriminate between the two different storage conditionsapplied: the multivariate analysis, Principal Component Analysis, presents clearly differences among the foursampling times when the apple slices are stored in air and in N2.Our results indicate that the electronic nose can be considered a valid supplementary tool to human sensorypanel assessment especially in food quality safety and control and it can be a simple, objective and rapid method tocontrol the food quality during the storage.