Net melons cv. Bonus II were minimally processed as cubes, wrapped in several packaging materials with injection of the gaseous mixture (5% O2 + 20% CO2 + 75% N2) and stored at 3ºC for 12 days. The packaging materials were: BB-200: Cryovac multlayer film 65mm; PBC: Probag Conservax polyolephinic film 64µm; PP: polypropylene film 52µm. Polystyrene trays were used as control with perforated cover. Gaseous composition inside of the packaging, microbiological, sensorial and physical-chemical characteristics were determined each 3 days. The gas permeability was determined for each film. BB-200 packaging promoted CO2 accumulation until 24% and O2 reduction until 0,4%. Inside PBC packaging the O2 concentration stabilized at 8% and CO2 about 4%, while inside PP packaging the gaseous concentration stabilized near 13% for O2 and 6% for CO2. In a general sense, physical-chemical and sensorial characteristics were not influenced by the treatments. The modified atmosphere packaging was efficient for the microorganism control. The melon without modified atmosphere packaging showed levels over 10(5) NMP/g, of mesophilics bacteria, wich pathogenic microorganisms risks and/or deteriorative microorganisms, after 9th storage day.
Cucumis melo L.; packing; fresh-cut; cold storage; gaseous mixture; microbiology
