Abstract—Experiments with pumpkin-rowanberry marmalade candies were carried out at the Faculty of Food Technology of the Latvia University of Agriculture. The objective of this investigation was to evaluate the quality changes of pumpkin-rowanberry marmalade candies packed in different packaging materials during the storage of 15 weeks, and to find the most suitable packaging material for prolongation of low sugar marmalade candies shelf-life. An active packaging in combination with modified atmosphere (MAP, CO 2 100%) was examined and compared with traditional packaging in air ambiance. Polymer Multibarrier 60 and paper bags were used. Influence of iron based oxygen absorber in sachets of 500 cc obtained from Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Europe Ageless ® on the marmalade candies’ quality was tested during shelf life. Samples of 80±5 g were packaged in polymer pouches (110 mm x 110 mm), hermetically sealed by MULTIVAC C300 vacuum chamber machine, and stored in a room temperature +21±0.5 °C. The physiochemical properties –moisture content, hardness, a w, pH, changes of atmosphere content (CO 2 and O 2 ), ascorbic acid, total carotenoids, total phenols in headspace of packs, and microbial conditions were analysed before packaging and in the 1 st , 3 rd , 5 th , 8 th , 11 th and 15 th weeks of storage. Keywords—Active packaging, marmalade candies, shelf life I. INTRODUCTION ISTORICALLY, marmalades, jams and jellies may have originated as an early effort to preserve fruit for consumption in the off-season. Processing of different fruits into juice, marmalade or jam has been important for ensuring fruit availability during all year. This research has been prepared within the framework of the Project “Formation of the research group in food science” Contract Nr.2009/0232/1DP/1.1.1.2.0/09/ APIA/VIAA/122. S. Kampuse is with the Faculty of Food Technology, Latvia University of Agriculture, Jelgava, Latvia, LV–3001 (e–mail: skampuse@inbox.lv). E. Berna is a PhD student in Faculty of Food Technology, Latvia University of Agriculture, Jelgava, Latvia, LV–3001 (e–mail: elga@tvnet.lv). S. Muizniece–Brasava is with the Faculty of Food Technology, Latvia University of Agriculture, Jelgava, Latvia, LV–3001 (e–mail: sandra.muizniece@llu.lv). L. Dukalska is with the Faculty of Food Technology, Latvia University of Agriculture, Jelgava, Latvia, LV–3001 (e–mail: lija.dukalska@llu.lv). I. Murniece is with the Faculty of Food Technology, Latvia University of Agriculture, Jelgava, Latvia, LV–3001 (e–mail: irisa.murniece@llu.lv). M. Sabovics is the PhD student the Faculty of Food Technology, Latvia University of Agriculture, Jelgava, Latvia, LV–3001 (e–mail: martins.sabovics@inbox.lv). Z. Kruma is with the Faculty of Food Technology, Latvia University of Agriculture, Jelgava, Latvia, LV–3001 (e–mail: zanda.kruma@llu.lv). K. Ruse is the PhD student the Faculty of Food Technology, Latvia University of Agriculture, Jelgava, Latvia, LV–3001 (e–mail: karinaruse@inbox.lv). E. Kozlinskis is with the Faculty of Food Technology, Latvia University of Agriculture, Jelgava, Latvia, LV–3001 (e–mail: emils.kozlinskis@gmail.com). S. Sarvi is with the Faculty of Food Technology, Latvia University of Agriculture, Jelgava, Latvia, LV–3001. K. Kampuss is with the Faculty of Agriculture, Latvia University of Agriculture, Jelgava, Latvia, LV–3001 (e–mail: kaspars.kampuss@llu.lv). Jellies, jams and marmalades are primarily classified according to the form from which their fruit is incorporated. Marmalades are mostly jellies from fruit purée and sugar- acid-pectin gel or low-methoxyl pectin-calcium gels. [1],[2]. Definition “fruit marmalades” for human consumption is specified in the Codex Alimentarius International food standards. According the definition, non-citrus marmalade is the product prepared by cooking fruit, whole, in pieces, or crushed adding foodstuffs with sweetening properties to obtain a semi liquid or thick liquid. The product shall be produced such that the quantity of fruit ingredient used as a percentage of the finished product shall not be less than 30% [3]. Numerous snack products and pastries are prepared with a variety of jams and jellies, and thus their quality is a very important factor for the quality of many other products [1], [4]. Consumers are demanding high-quality healthy products in various innovative forms and for competitive prices [5]−[8]. Therefore it is very important to choose raw material with high content of bioactive compounds. There is still a lot of potential to improve the product quality using new, non- traditional fruits and vegetables with high contents of bioactive compounds as raw materials for production of marmalades, jams and jellies. Such raw materials are also pumpkins and sweet rowanberries. Pumpkin is vegetable that meet the requirements of healthy nutrition. It is a tasty and valuable vegetable crop, contains a lot of biologically active substances and is distinguished for its dietary qualities. There are three common types of pumpkin world-wide, namely Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita maxima and Cucurbita moschata [9]. Pumpkins provide a valuable source of carotenoids and ascorbic acid, which have major roles in nutrition as provitamin A and as an antioxidant, respectively [10]. The main carotenoids, which are present in winter squash (Cucurbita maxima) are -carotene and -carotene. Winter squash fruit contains 0.4-7.5 mg·100 g –1 of -carotene and 1.4-8.4 mg·100 g –1 of -carotene, depending on cultivar [11]. Cucurbita moschata is used for traditional medicine in several countries to control diabetes as well as for treating worms and parasites [12]. They are consumed in various ways such as fresh or cooked vegetable, as well as being stored frozen or canned [13]. The rowanberries (Sorbus) belong to the subfamily Maloideae of the family Rosaceae and their berries have been promoted as a health-food and can be a source of the health- promoting components. The wild rowanberries in Latvia are picked in autumn and they are eatable, but though they have been traditionally used for jellies and jams, their wider use as food ingredients has been less popular because of their bitter taste [14], [15]. Different cultivars of sweet rowanberries and hybrids with other Rosaceae genus and species are sweeter and less astringent than wild rowanberries. Sabovics, Zanda Kruma, Karina Ruse, Svetlana Sarvi, Kaspars Kampuss Influence of Active Packaging on the Quality of Pumpkin - Rowanberry Marmalade Candies H Solvita Kampuse, Elga Berna, Sandra Muizniece-Brasava, Lija Dukalska, Irisa Murniece, Martins World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Nutrition and Food Engineering Vol:6, No:7, 2012 572 International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 6(7) 2012 scholar.waset.org/1307-6892/4667 International Science Index, Nutrition and Food Engineering Vol:6, No:7, 2012 waset.org/Publication/4667