Quality characteristics of paprika packaged with functional film applied by essential oil of Artemisia princeps Pampanini

Abstract

The aim of this study was to verify the effect of the essential oil (EO) of Artemisia princeps as a functional film component for enhancing the quality of paprika during storage. EO dilutions of 0.5, 1, and 2% were used for the experiments, and the bacterial growth inhibition effect of EO was confirmed against all tested bacteria. The paprika was packaged in 50 µm-thick polypropylene (PP) film containing 0.5% EO and then stored at 10℃ for 21 days. To determine the effect of EO during paprika storage, the weight loss rate, color, soluble solid content, hardness, microorganism content, appearance, and vitamin C content were recorded for each sample. It was found that the PP film containing EO 0.5% prevented water loss, resulting in an improved appearance. In addition, the weight loss rate from the paprika for this film remained unchanged, unlike in the case of the paprika packaged in a corrugated box. In addition, the soluble solid contents, hardness, and CO 2 contents of the film containing 0.5% EO were higher than those for the corrugated box-stored sample, thereby indicating the positive effect of EO on sample quality maintenance. In terms of the microbial quality assessment, the total number of aerobic bacteria and molds were lower for the 0.5% EO film-stored sample due to the antimicrobial effect of A. princeps. No effect was observed in terms of the vitamin C content. The obtained results therefore suggest that the application of EO to the PP film is effective for paprika quality preservation.