Watercress (Nasturtium officinale R. Br.) Minimally Processed: Effect of Storage Temperature and Different Films of Packaging

Watercress is a leafy vegetable of the family brassicaceae that grows inand around water, it has a short shelf life (approximately seven days) and it isconsumed raw or steamed.the objective of this work was to study the effect ofpackaging film and different storage temperature on the postharvest quality ofwatercress minimally processed. treatments were: packed with plain film(pd961ez, 31?m thickness), non perforated and perforated (perforated areapercentage 0.3%, hole diameter 1.1mm) and stored in refrigerated chambers at1 ± 0.5 ?c and 8 ± 2 ?c (optimal storage temperature vs market temperature)for 10 days. overall visual quality, gas concentration inside the packages,color hunter lab parameters and weight loss were evaluated. overall visualquality, gas concentration and weight loss were significantly affected bytreatment, storage time and temperature. color parameters did not show aclear tendency. in conclusion, non perforated pdz 961 film was suitable forpreserving watercress quality at the tested storage temperatures and in bothtemperatures, the overall visual quality was maintained above the limit valuesof commercial acceptability. the perforated film was no suitable for thepackaging of watercress at any of the tested temperatures, mainly due tosignificant weight loss that reduce the overall visual quality of the productless than limit of acceptability by the consumers.