© All Rights Reserved *Corresponding author. Email: mcasgo@upvnet.upv.es International Food Research Journal 21(5): 1851-1851 (2014) Journal homepage: http://www.ifrj.upm.edu.my Almela, C., Espert, M., Ortolá, M. D. and * Castelló, M. L. Institute of Food Engineering for Development, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain Inluence of minimally processed grapes washing with lemon essential oil Abstract The increased interest in ready to eat products along with the great production of grapes make necessary to ind a new way of presentation of this product in order to ease its consumption. The main goal is to keep quality and extend the shelf-life of grains of table grapes by applying different concentrations of lemon essential oil (LEO) which were applied in a preliminary stage of immersion. Samples were stored in PET trays at 5 ºC for 21 days. Soluble solids content, pH, acidity, antioxidant capacity, optical and mechanical properties and microbiology counts were periodically analysed. Noteworthy was that the application of LEO in the washing stage did not keep the preservation of the grapes’ colour and texture. All samples would be considered safe according to microbiology requirements and based on the period of study, regardless of the concentration of LEO applied. Introduction According to FAOSAT data, Spain is the ifth largest worldwide producer of grapes in 2011 (FAOSTAT, 2013). Production of table grapes in Spain in 2011 was 243435 tonnes (MAGRAMA, 2013). Table grapes are a non-climacteric fruits with low physiological activity. In addition, these fruits are sensitive to water loss and fungal infection (mainly by Botrytis cinerea) during postharvest handling (Artés- Hernández et al., 2004). From the nutritional point of view, grapes are considered important sources of phenolic compounds, which are mainly responsible for their antioxidant properties (Baiano and Terracone, 2011; Melgarejo-Flores et al., 2013). Moreover, the increasing growth of minimally processed products, easy to consume and the globalization of food trade and distribution imply major challenges to food safety and quality (Appendini and Hotchkiss, 2002). This makes necessary to research new methods to achieve these objectives. The modiied atmosphere packaging (MAP) is one of the most used methods of preservation. The MAP allows the modiication of the gas atmosphere inside the package due to the respiration of the product and transfer of gases through the packaging (Fonseca et al., 2002). Products will have a longer shelf-life if the permeability of the packaging material is suitable for the respiration of the product, and also, an equilibrium modiied atmosphere can be reached inside the package (Sandhya, 2010). The use of MAP to maintain the quality of table grapes has been studied by several researchers (Martínez-Romero et al., 2003; Artés-Hernández et al., 2004; Valverde et al., 2005; Valero et al., 2006; Artés-Hernández et al., 2006; Guillén et al., 2007). Furthermore, there are many research that have studied the combination of MAP with the application of certain additives on minimally processed products in order to maintain its quality and shelf-life (Rocculi et al., 2004; Sapers and Miller, 1998). Essential oils (EOs) are very complex natural mixture of different components and come from aromatic plants (Bakkali et al., 2008). In fact, Fisher and Phillips (2006) analyzed the main components of lemon, orange and bergamot essential oils by gas chromatography. This gas chromatographic determination indicated that the most important component of lemon essential oil (LEO) was limonene (95%), followed by linalool and citral. Many researchers have studied the combined use of MAP and natural antimicrobial compounds on different fruits, as table grapes (Valverde et al., 2005; Valero et al., 2006; Guillén et al., 2007;) and sweet cherry (Serrano et al., 2005). All of them used these antimicrobial substances inside the packages, avoiding the contact with the fruits. Valverde et al. (2005) observed that from the microbiological point of view, the use of these natural antimicrobial components with MAP implied a microbiological reduction. In addition, this antimicrobiological effect was more effective on molds and yeasts counts than for mesophilics aerobics. Other authors, Melgarejo-Flores et al. (2013) used cinnamon leaf oil (CLO) applied in different ways to table grapes (water emulsions, vapors or incorporated into pectin coatings). They concluded that CLO as vapors or coatings could be used to control decay and increase the antioxidant health beneits of grapes due to CLO’s antifungal and antioxidant properties. Based on the Keywords Lemon essential oil Grapes Antioxidant capacity Article history Received: 27 January 2014 Received in revised form: 2 April 2014 Accepted: 7 April 2014