Effects of Ultrasonication and Modified Atmosphere Packaging on the Physicochemical Characteristics and Quality of Ready-to-Eat Pomegranate Arils

The demand for ready-to-eat pomegranate arils has increased due to the high nutritional value and quality of this valuable fruit. However, shelf life is short. Therefore, we examined effect ultrasonication treatment (35 kHz power) varying times (5, 10, 15 min) at 25 °C, their combination with different packaging types, i.e., vacuum passive modified atmosphere (passive MAP), on physical, chemical, sensory properties arils. results showed that combined ultrasonic leads improving arils’ life. treatments significantly reduced weight loss (30%) decay (16%) compared control. At end storage time, lowest bacterial count (0.25 log CFU/g) yeast mold (0.37 were obtained in ultrasound-treated min packed. In addition, they preserved total soluble solids, titratable acidity, antioxidant capacity, phenolic compounds, anthocyanin, leading organoleptic terms taste overall quality, greater scores recorded by panelists vacuum-packed than MAP. Overall, treated ultrasound 10 then packed had best control other treatments.