Effect of Cysteine and Modified Atmosphere Packaging on Maintaining the Quality and Storage Time of Green Basil

Articles in Press

Document Type : Short Article

Authors

Nahid Noruzi Jajarm

Nasser Sedaghat

Masoud Taghizadeh

Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

10.22067/ifstrj.2026.97200.1542

Abstract

Introduction
Fresh leafy vegetables contain vital macronutrients and micronutrients such as carbohydrates, fiber, minerals, and vitamins that are essential for body health. People are now consuming less vegetables in their diet because their preparation is time-consuming. These nutrients play a critical role in keeping physiological functions stable, boosting immune responses, and preventing chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disorders or some kinds of cancer. Therefore, the market for packaged ready to eat fresh leafy vegetables has grown worldwide. This has created a new opportunity to bridge the gap between traditional and modern lifestyles, increase fresh product consumption, expand convenience foods, and promote well-documented health benefits. Although many vegetables are not available in high-quality packs, basil is a popular leafy vegetable in Iranian food preparation and consumption. This vegetable has a key flavor that is used as a garnish, in salads, stews, or traditional dishes, and gives cultural and culinary significance beyond its nutritional value. Basil (Ocimum basilicum) is one of the most sensitive plants, with a very short shelf life and a unique aroma and flavor, which has made it an integral part of Mediterranean cuisine, too. Its sensory profile is attributed to its essential oil composition, mainly containing linalool, eugenol, and methyl chavicol, which are highly volatile and susceptible to degradation during postharvest handling. It has a soft and thin texture that makes it more sensitive to mechanical damage and environmental stresses. Therefore, even the smallest changes in the storage conditions can cause quick quality loss. Various negative quality effects that are reported during the storage time of fresh basil leaves include weight loss, chlorophyll degradation, leaf rot, browning, and loss of sensory properties, which lead to increased waste and reduced shelf life of this leafy vegetable. Weight loss primarily results from respiration and causes wilting and limpness, while chlorophyll breakdown increases yellow carotenoid pigments, giving leaves an undesired appearance that is a sign of aging and reduced freshness. Many parameters have been studied to reduce the spoilage rate of basil leaves, including changes in temperature, humidity, packaging materials and types; however, these methods could not successfully manage the negative quality effects to optimize the shelf life of fresh, cleaned basil leaves. For instance, using Ethylene producing inhibitors is a common way to maintain basil leaf quality; however, the most important challenge in storing this vegetable is its high sensitivity to low temperatures, and the absence of ethylene in the atmosphere makes the inhibitors useless. Also, using the inhibitors alone can cause moisture loss and wilting of the vegetable. Applying controlled temperature and moisture could limit browning and sensory degradation, but the loss of freshness and aroma remains a key unsolved challenge caused by essential metabolism in the leaf's cells. Moreover, using ionized or salt-based coatings caused off-flavors and limited the edibility of basil leaves. Inorganic coatings are effective moisture barriers in some cases, but often interact with the leaf surface in ways that alter the natural flavor profile, leading to bitterness or metallic notes that are unacceptable to consumers. Accordingly, it is not possible to scale up the production of packed clean basil leaves, and an essential need has been sensed in this area. Therefore, investigating appropriate methods to maintain the quality characteristics of basil during storage is a determinant research. The first accessible, facilitated method is leaf coating with controlled process parameters that decrease mechanical and physical damage to leaves on one hand and increase the stability of fresh quality on the other hand. Therefore, protective, insensitive amino acids might be a logical option to manage the chemical degradation processes. The amino acids are safe and low-cost, which makes them a useful choice for industrial applications. They can be used both as a foliar spray and as a dip or spray on the leaves. Amino acids not only coat the leaves but also inhibit some vital processes like oxidation, cellular respiration, and ethylene production, which helps keep cell and membrane integrity. However, not all amino acids are desired for this application and do not have the same result on a specific leafy vegetable. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the appropriateness of cysteine as a coating formed by the dip method on the quality parameters of basil leaves and the interaction effect of that with the application of modified atmosphere packaging to increase the shelf life and freshness of the leaves. Cysteine was especially chosen in this study due to its thiol group, which can confer strong antioxidant activity and has high potential to chelate metal ions that might be catalyzed in oxidative reactions, making it a promising candidate for fresh basil leaf preservation and maintaining its biochemical balance.
Materials and Methods
In this study, basil leaves with edible cysteine coating at three levels (0, 0.1, 0.5%), packaging type (normal air packaging and passive modified atmosphere packaging) and storage time (0, 5, 12, 9 days) at 4˚C, were prepared and the concentrations of oxygen and carbon dioxide gases inside the package, pH, weight loss percentage, color parameters (a*, b*, L*), browning rate and sensory properties were determined.
 Results and Discussion
The findings showed that the use of passive modified atmosphere packaging had a significant effect on reducing the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide gases, along with reducing the respiration rate and increasing the storage time of basil leaves. The samples with normal air packaging showed the highest weight loss (3.07%) and the modified atmosphere packaging showed the lowest weight loss (1.88%). Increasing the concentration of cysteine in basil resulted in a reduction in weight loss and inhibition of the browning reaction compared to control (p<0.05). 
Conclusion
Using a concentration of 0.1% cysteine in the coating was able to maintain the sensory properties of basil samples. Accordingly, the combined use of edible cysteine coating and modified atmosphere packaging has provred to preserve the quality of packaged basil samples and increased the storage time by up to 12 days.

Keywords

Basil

Cysteine

Modified atmosphere

Storage time

Subjects

• Food Technology

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Authors retain the copyright. This is an open access article distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)

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