Valutazione della freschezza di insalate baby-leaf di quarta gamma da parte dei consumatori in relazione ai parametri chimico-fisici

In the last decades there has been a noticeable increase in the consumption of ready to eat salads, as a consequence of the relevant changes in the eating habits of consumers, that consider the product freshness one of the most important element in choosing minimally processed fruits and vegetables. Eighty consumer, adequately selected on the base of their consumption frequency of ready to eat vegetables, evaluated the freshness of three different industrial minimally processed baby leaf salads (green baby leaf lettuce; wild rocket; a mix of green baby leaf lettuce, red baby leaf lettuce, wild rocket and baby leaf spinach) stored at 6 °C under protected atmosphere (20% CO2 and 80% Ar). The tests were carried out at four different storage times (0, 2, 7 and 9 days) and each sample was also characterized for acidity, pH, browning intensity, color, dry matter, vitamin C and chlorophyll content. For each type of salad studied, the statistical analysis of the data showed that there were significant differences among the samples as far as freshness at the four storage times; furthermore, it has been possible to highlight significant correlations among some of the analytical parameters (e.g. vitamin C and chlorophyll content) and the freshness score deriving from the consumers evaluation. These correlations could be profitably utilized at commercial level for the prediction of the perceived freshness for this kind of products.