Effect of active paper sheets with encapsulated essential oils on lemon quality during its refrigerated conservation

Essential oils (EOs) are highly appreciated plant products in the food industry as sustainable alternative preservatives due to their high antimicrobial activity. For this reason, active packaging with EOs is a strategy with high potential for the preservation of fresh fruit and vegetables. In this work, the evolution of the physicochemical quality of lemons (var. Verna) in boxes with active paper sheets (EOs encapsulated in β-cyclodextrins) was studied for 5 weeks at 8 ºC, with supplementary commercialization simulation periods (5 days at room temperature). Lemons with active packaging showed less weight loss (1.3 %) compared to control samples (2.1 %), and maintained 30 % more firmness after 5 weeks, while color was not affected (p >0.05). In conclusion, the packaging of lemons with active paper sheets can be considered as an excellent conservation alternative, since it releases EO in a controlled manner preserving the lemon quality during both refrigerated and commercialization periods.