ABSTRACT
Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) helps in increasing the shelf life of fruits and vegetables and presents the consumer with distinct advantages of high quality product, clear view of the product, and nil or very little use of chemical preservative and the food producer with increased shelf life. Food distribution has undergone two major revolutions in the last Century, canning, and freezing. These gave consumers easy availability to most type of produce. However, energy crisis, ecological awareness, and demand for healthy and fresh food have created a need for a technology that allows distribution of fresh produce around the year. The MAP theoretically, offers a possibility of meeting these requirements. This new packaging concept is rapidly growing in the food packaging market. It improves the product quality, freshness, and increases the shelf life of the product as well as provides convenience to the consumer and adds value to the product. It is mainly used to extend the shelf life of fresh/ perishable commodities maintaining freshness. The modified atmosphere concept for packaged produce consists of modifying the atmosphere surrounding a food product by vacuum, gas flushing, or controlled permeability of the pack thus, controlling the biochemical, enzymatic, and microbial actions so as to avoid or decrease the main degradations that might occur. This allows the preservation of the fresh state of the food product without the temperature or chemical treatments used by competitive preservation techniques, such as canning, freezing, dehydration, and other processes. It is one of the novel approaches to extend the self life of perishable commodity. Modified atmosphere packaging fits into the important area of preservation, where shelf life is extended without the loss of those important and elusive properties, which constitute fresheners in the consumer’s mind, and therefore move the product into a premium bracket. At premium products mainly have short shelf lives process which extend this even by a few days are of great value to retailers by virtue of the reduced wastage, reduced costs for shelf filling, and in certain instances, the ability to offer products that
might otherwise be obtainable only from a specialist outlet. One of the most important parameters to be considered for MAP studies is the need for proper packaging films.
