FULL ARTICLE Phenolic, tannin, antioxidant, color, and sensory attributes of Barhi date (Phoenix dactylifera) fruit stored in modified atmosphere packages Omer N. Alsawmahi 1,2 | Fahad Al-Juhaimi 1 | Abdullah M. Alhamdan 3 | Kashif Ghafoor 1 | Oladipupo Q. Adiamo 1 | Isam A. Mohamed Ahmed 1 | Bakri H. Hassan 3 | Kheled A. Ehmed 3 | Elfadil E. Babiker 1 | Diaeldin Abdelkarim 3 | Mahmoud Younis 3 | Nasser Alashmawe 3 1 Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 2 Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Marine Biology, Department of Food and Fish Technology, Hadhramout University, Mukalla, Hadhramout, Yemen 3 Chair of Dates Industry and Technology, Department of Agricultural Engineering, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Correspondence Fahad Al-Juhaimi, Department of Food Sci- ence and Nutrition, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, PO Box 2460, Riyadh, 11451, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Email: faljuhaimi@ksu.edu.sa Funding information King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia Vice Deanship of Research Chairs, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia Abstract Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) was evaluated for total phenolic contents (TPC), antioxi- dant, tannin, color, and sensory properties of fresh Barhi dates. Polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) with different perforations (0 [H0], 50 mm [H3], 100 mm [H6], and 150 mm [H9]) were evaluated for storing fresh Barhi dates for up to 45 days at 1 to 258C temperature. MAP sig- nificantly (p  .05) affected the properties investigated as compared to control. PE dates have higher (p  .05) TPC than PP dates, whereas other properties remained largely unaffected by pack- aging material. TPC and antioxidant activity were higher (p  .05) in H0 treated dates. H9 perforated packaged dates exhibited higher (p  .05) tannin contents, better sensory and color attributes. Barhi dates exhibited fresh-like quality and better antioxidant properties at low storage temperature (58C) for up to 2 weeks’ storage and similar was verified by principal component anal- ysis using HJ plots where storage temperature was observed as major factor. Practical applications Modified atmosphere packaging or MAP is an emerging technique for preserving fresh fruits and vegetables and it is being studied extensively for different fresh commodities in order to preserve their fresh like characteristics. There is a need to study MAP effects on storing new and economi- cally important fruits such as Barhi dates which have shorter life in early stages of maturity but cherished when freshly harvested due to various health benefits and characteristic taste and qual- ity. MAP was effectively tested and applied for preserving Barhi dates and MAP variables were evaluated in order to find the best packaging conditions which may ensure maximum consumer benefits and date quality. KEYWORDS antioxidant activity, color quality, modified atmosphere packaging, Phoenix dactylifera, sensory properties 1 | INTRODUCTION In several arid and semiarid regions of the world such as Middle East, date (Phoenix dactylifera) palm is considered as an essential subsistence crop and major fruiting trees (Chao & Krueger, 2007). The date fruit is climacteric and the physiological changes during the course of matura- tion are due to ethylene hormone. There are four types of physiological stages of date fruit depending on fruit maturity and identified using Arabic terms. Kimri is a hard, green and immature date; Khalal reflects hard, yellow and edible Barhi date; Rutab is soft, brown and semiripe J Food Biochem. 2018;e12576. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfbc.12576 wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jfbc V C 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. | 1 of 11 Received: 21 January 2018 | Revised: 11 March 2018 | Accepted: 2 April 2018 DOI: 10.1111/jfbc.12576