Quality Characteristics of Tomato Packaged with Functional Film Applied to Essential Oil of Artemisia Princeps Pampanini

This research was conducted to investigate the effect of essential oil (EO) from Artemisia Princeps Pampanini on quality of tomato during storage. EO was extracted by steam distillation and diluted by 1 and 2%. Total phenolic contents and antioxidative activities of EO were analyzed. Tomato was packaged corrugated box covered with polypropylene (PP) film containing EO (1 and 2%) and then stored at room temperature for 10 days. During storage, appearance, weight loss rate, soluble solid contents, pH and a (redness) value were measured for tomato. Total phenolic contents of EO increased in a dose-dependence. The DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities also showed a concentration-dependent increase. The weight loss rate was lowest using the film packaged in 1% EO. During the storage period, soluble solid contents and pH increased in all treatments. The a value increased regardless of EO concentration in films. Especially, tomato packaged with EO film showed a lower a value than non EO-packaged ones. This result suggests that application of EO to film is effective for tomato quality preservation.