For Abstracts

Fabio Tanamati (Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas, Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho, Botucatu, Brasil), Gyunghoon Hong (Mann Lab, Dept. Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis CA 95616), and Marita Cantwell (Mann Lab, Dept. Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis CA 95616)

Fresh-peeled garlic is an increasingly important product for foodservice and retail markets. Two storage tests were conducted using garlic cloves (California Late) that were peeled and packaged commercially and one test was conducted with controlled atmospheres. In Test 1 (MAP bags of 454g), O₂ concentrations averaged 15, 10 and 5% at 0, 5 and 10 degrees , respectively; corresponding CO₂ concentrations averaged 8, 15 and 23%. In Test 2 with small vacuum packed bags (30g) inside larger consumer packages (170g), atmospheres in the former averaged 1.5-3% O₂ and 20-30% CO₂ at all storage temperatures (0, 2.5, 5 and 7.5 degrees C). In both tests, discoloration occurred in areas damaged during peeling, and was associated with lower L* and increased chroma values. In Test 1 excellent visual quality was maintained during 21 and 16 days at 0 and 5 degrees C, respectively, and acceptable quality was maintained for 12 days at 10 degrees C. In Test 2, very good visual quality was maintained up to 28 days at 0 and 2.5 degrees C, and acceptable quality was retained for 21 days at 5 and 7.5 degrees C. Controlled atmospheres (1%O₂ alone or with 10%CO₂) also showed that high CO₂ retarded discoloration and decay at 5 and 10 degrees C. No important changes in texture were observed. Pungency (thiosulfinate and pyruvate concentrations) decreased with time and in relation to storage temperatures. A reasonable expected storage-life of commercially peeled and modified atmosphere packaged garlic is 3-4 weeks at 0 degrees C, 2-3 weeks at 5 degrees C and 1-2 weeks at 10 degrees C.