Shelf-life of Chinese cabbage (Brassica campestris L. ssp. pekinensis Lour) packaged in ordinary atmosphere

The suitability of four different cultivars of Chinese cabbage ('Bilko', 'Kasumi', 'Manoko' and 'Nikko') to be transformed as ready-to-use product was evaluated. To the puropose, immediately after harvesting, cabbage samples were cutted, washed with clorinated water, packaged under ordinary atmospheric conditions and stored at 4 °C for 8 days. Samples were analyzed at the production day, at the 4th and at the 8th day of storage to determine variations of some physical (color), chemical (dry matter, sugars, phenolic content and titratable acidity), physiological (CO2 and O2 producation), microbiologic (mesophilic viable counts, yeast and moulds, Enterobacteriaceae) and enzymatic (polyphenoloxidase activity) parameters. Results of this study provided information to evaluate, for each cultivar, quality of cut Chinese cabbage during storage.