Postharvest Biology and Technology 60 (2011) 211–219 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Postharvest Biology and Technology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/postharvbio Active label-based packaging to extend the shelf-life of “Calanda” peach fruit: Changes in fruit quality and enzymatic activity Pablo Montero-Prado, Angel Rodriguez-Lafuente, Cristina Nerin ∗ Aragon Institute of Engineering Research (I3A), CPS, Depart. Anal. Chem., University of Zaragoza, María de Luna 3, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain article info Article history: Received 10 September 2010 Accepted 11 January 2011 Keywords: Peach fruit Active packaging Shelf-life Cinnamon essential oil Sensory analysis Enzymatic activity abstract A new active packaging, consisting of a label with cinnamon essential oil incorporated and attached to plastic packaging, was used to extend the shelf-life of late-maturing peach fruit. After 12 days of storage at room temperature, the percentage of infected fruit in the active label packaging was 13% vs. 86% in the non-active packaging. Significant differences were obtained for weight loss (3.4% less at 12 days of storage) and firmness (more than 15.9 N at 12 days) during storage. The influence of the active packaging on the in vivo activity of lipoxygenase (LOX), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and of malondialdehyde (MDA) content as an indicator of lipid oxidation, was studied. The active agent, cinnamon essential oil, also reduced in vitro activity of LOX. Sensory analysis of the peaches was performed over the storage time. Most of positive descriptors were not significantly different from the optimum quality level (day 0) for peaches stored in the active package after 12 days at room temperature. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Technologies used to extend shelf-life of foodstuffs include active packaging. This consists of incorporating active agents into packaging, which interact with food through various mechanisms such as eliminating undesirable compounds or adding beneficial compounds to the product (Vermeiren et al., 1999). Several studies have shown the potential benefit of using essential oils as active agents in packaging materials, maintaining the initial characteris- tics of the food, protecting it from microbial spoilage and therefore extending shelf-life (Burt, 2004). Among these, Neri et al. (2007) have reported antifungal activity of several plant volatile com- pounds against Monilinia laxa, which causes brown rot in stonefruit. The incorporation of essential oils into a package has usually been made by direct incorporation into the plastic polymer, or by using a coating on the polymer (Lopez et al., 2007; Gutiérrez et al., 2009; Rodriguez-Lafuente et al., 2010). However, the use of active labels has not been extensively used to date (Winther and Abbreviations: CAS, chemical abstract service; CAT, catalase; EDTA, ethylenedi- aminetetraacetic acid; EOs, essential oils; LOX, lipoxygenase; LSD, least significant difference; MDA, malondialdehyde; NBT, nitroblue tetrazolium; PET, polyethylene terephthalate; POD, peroxidise; PP, polypropylene; PPO, polyphenol oxidase; SOD, superoxide dismutase; SSC, soluble solids content; TBA, thiobarbituric acid; TCA, trichloroacetic acid. ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 976761873; fax: +34 976762388. E-mail addresses: pmontero@unizar.es (P. Montero-Prado), arodri@unizar.es (A. Rodriguez-Lafuente), cnerin@unizar.es (C. Nerin). Nielsen, 2006). Labels are very versatile and also easily adapted to an industrial scale and can be added just before packaging the food, thereby maximizing their functionality. This paper explores the use of auto-adhesive labels containing cinnamon essential oil as the active agent to improve the shelf-life of “Calanda” peach fruit (Prunus persica Sieb and Zucc). “Calanda” peach is a highly added value variety of peach from the Spanish Origin Denomination “Melocotón de Calanda”. This peach is a clingstone non-melting variety with yellow flesh. Its shelf-life is only from 3 to 5 days at room temperature (20–22 ◦ C), mainly due to rapid ripening once harvested and further microbial spoilage, lim- iting its market availability to a small geographical area. Previous studies have shown the susceptibility of the fruit to chilling injury, and therefore, low temperatures such as 2–8 ◦ C are not effective for extending shelf-life. However, some chilling-related disorders and fruit senescence could be avoided or delayed by storing fruit at 0 ◦ C (Crisosto, 2002; Fernández et al., 2009). The deterioration of peaches occurs in three ways: physi- cal, chemical and biological. The physical and chemical damage (Hariyadi and Parkin, 1991; Wang et al., 2004) can be controlled with a proper handling and processing during the harvest. The bio- logical damage is from action of parasites, enzymatic effects (Khan and Singh, 2007) and microorganisms such as Monilinia fructicola and Penicillium expansum, causing the change of color to brown (brown rot) or the appearance of blue mold, or gray mold, caused by Botrytis cinerea (Karabulut and Baykal, 2002; Karabulut et al., 2002; Guijarro et al., 2007). The damage caused by the Mediterranean fly is usually avoided by bagging the fruit peaches individually while 0925-5214/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.postharvbio.2011.01.008