ABSTRACT
As demand for natural, minimally processed, and fresh foods is increasing, food preservation methods aimed at maintaining quality and extending storage life, such as modi ed atmosphere packaging (MAP) and controlled atmosphere packaging (CAP), have been subject of study and research worldwide. The term modi ed atmosphere technology includes controlled atmosphere storage, ultra low oxygen storage, superatmospheric oxygen storage, gas packaging, vacuum packaging (VP), passive MAP, and active packaging (Hertog and Banks 2003). All these techniques share a common principle: the manipulation or the control of the atmosphere composition that surrounds a product in order to maintain quality during the shelf life.
