Journal of Food Processing & Technology

Abstract

Effect of Storage Conditions on Rate of Color Degradation of Paprika based Products

Ramya Addala, Mihir Vasavada, Jane Dong and Siva Subramanian

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of storage conditions on rate of color degradation of paprika based products. The study was conducted on 7 paprika, 3 chili pepper and 2 chili powder products commercially produced at Olam Spices and Vegetable Ingredients. All products were collected from the manufacturing location at Las Cruces, NM and stored in ziploc bags for up to 6 months at 4 different storage conditions, namely: 35°C/80% RH, room temperature ~ 22°C/45% RH, refrigerated temperature at 7°C and frozen temperature at -8°C. Representative samples were collected at Time 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 weeks from each storage condition and analyzed for moisture and water activity (Aw), extractable color (ASTA) and surface color (Hunter L, a, b). Results showed that samples with ethoxyquin demonstrated a significantly lower extractable color loss than samples without ethoxyquin. Further, samples that had been irradiated demonstrated a significantly higher surface color loss than samples that had not been irradiated. Samples at high temperature – humidity storage degraded significantly rapidly compared to samples stored in room conditions. Refrigerated and freezer stored samples showed minimal extractable and visual color loss. This study provides significant information on storage stability of paprika based products during long term storage.