The use of refrigerated storage, pretreatment with vapors of essential oils, and active flow-packing, improves the shelf life and safety of fresh dill

Dill is an important aromatic herb, which is used for flavouring and seasoning of various foods and meals. As many other herbs, this product shows a high metabolism and rate of ethylene production which results in a short shelf life, lower than 10-15 days. In addition, aromatic herbs often contain pathogens such as Escherichia coli due to agricultural practices or packaging operations. In this study, a new disinfection system (based on essential oils-EOs-vapors) and active flow-pack (based on bio-polymeric film with ethylene adsorption characteristics) are proposed to maintain the quality and food safety of fresh dill in refrigerated storage at 4°C. After pretreatment with EOs vapors, a reduction of 1.5 log CFU/g was achieved for E. coli, and ethylene production in flow-packed dill was significantly lower. Thus, a shelf life of 24 days was obtained with this active packaging system.