소고기의 건식 숙성 기간을 단축하고자 연육과 관련된 효소 활성이 높은 15-36oC 온도범위에서 저습도로 숙성할 수 있는 라디오파 숙성장치를 개발하였다. 이 장치는 평행 판 전극 사이에 소고기를 넣고 라디오파를 가하여 유전가열이 되는 현상으로 고기의 온도를 높였고, 냉풍을 이용하여 습도를 낮춰서 고기표면이 건조되게 하였다. 이 장치를 이용하여 2등급 소고기 채끝 부위를 숙성시킨 결과 40 W/ kg로 가열하여 고기 품온이 30oC를 초과하는 온도 범위 24 h 숙성할 경우 12.3%, 10-30oC 온도 범위에서 숙성시킬 경우 55.2% 연육효과가 나타났다. 라디오파 숙성 중 제상 과정 없이 냉풍을 계속 가할 경우 미생물 증식에 의한 문제가 발생하지 않았으며, 이러한 연육 효과는 기존 건식숙 성 21일간 절단강도 17% 감소하는 것에 비해 매우 단시간 나타난 것으로 숙성기간을 크게 단축할 수 있음을 확인 하였다. 닭고기와 돼지고기는 육질의 차이로 라디오파 숙성에 의한 연육 효과가 나타나지 않았다.

When kimchi is frozen and thawed, the amount of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and yeast is usually reduced by more than 2 logs, and its texture including its crispness and hardness are changed significantly. As a possible means to minimize these problems, various freezing (direct freezer with -25, -40, and -60oC and plate freezer with -40oC) and thawing methods (radio frequency (RF) thawing, plate thawing, and room temperature thawing) were investigated in terms of the amount of LAB and texture of kimchi. From the use of plate freezing and plate thawing, the amount of LAB of white cabbage kimchi could be maintained by more than 10% of its initial amount while that for red cabbage kimchi could be maintained by more than the initial amount. Pretreatment with trehalose (19 oBrix soluble solid content) to salted Chinese cabbage could maintain kimchi’s hardness and crispness. In order to maintain the texture and the amount of LAB in kimchi, the use of the plate freezer (-40oC) and the plate thawing (20oC) seemed to be effective with the assistance of trehalose.

This study was conducted to investigate the quality of kimchi cabbages stored under a pallet unit-controlled atmosphere (PUCA), containing 2% O2 and 5% CO2, and to develop quality prediction models for cabbages stored under such conditions. Summer and winter cabbage samples were divided into PUCA-exposed groups and atmospheric airexposed control groups (in a cold storage). The control summer cabbages lost up to 8.31% of their weight, whereas the PUCA-exposed summer cabbages lost only 1.23% of their weight. Additionally, PUCA storage effectively delayed the reduction in cabbage moisture content compared with the control storage. After storage for 60 and 120 days of the summer and winter samples, respectively, the reducing sugar contents were higher in the PUCA groups than in the control groups. The linear regression analysis-derived equations for predicting the storage period, weight loss, and moisture content in the control groups, as well as those for predicting the storage period and weight loss in the PUCA groups, were appropriate according to the adjusted coefficient of determination, root mean square error, accuracy factor, and bias factor values. Therefore, this PUCA system would be useful for improving the shelf life of the postharvest summer and winter cabbages used in the commercial kimchi industry.

In this study, a controlled atmosphere (CA) storage system is proposed as a storage method for prolonging processing period. Persimmon was placed in CA storage at 0.5oC±0.5 for 92 d. The qualities of the stored persimmons were compared to determine the possibility of extending shelf life. ‘Sangjudungsi,’ which was harvested on October 26, 2017, was applied to the persimmons. In order to compare differences according to size, the persimmons were classified into Size No. 2 (170 g) and Size No. 3 (145 g). In the result, the yellowness of CA-stored persimmons was 26.3% lower than that of cold-stored ones, confirming that after-ripening was delayed. The firmness of CAstored and Size No. 3 persimmon was higher than that of cold-stored and Size No. 2 persimmon. Tannin decreased significantly in cold storage, but it tended to increase in CA storage. The sugar content of Size No. 3 was lower than that of Size No. 2, but there was no difference in tendencies according to the storage method. Weight loss in CA storage was lower than that in cold storage. A comparison of color difference, firmness, sugar content, tannin, and weight loss ratio showed that CA storage was more effective in improving shelf life than cold storage.

Commercial direct refrigerators have good energy efficiency, but are difficult to use for supercooled storage due to their large temperature deviation. Placing insulators and conductors inside the refrigerator could reduce these temperature deviations to within 0.3 degrees, allowing for the supercooled storage. The supercooled storage of salted Chinese cabbages during ten weeks was progressed to compare the other low temperature storages. The nucleation temperatures of salted Chinese cabbage were around -2.5oC and the freezing points were around -0.4oC, so -2oC was selected for the supercooled storage. The growth rate of lactic acid bacteria and yeast at -2oC storage was lower than that at 2oC storage. The reducing sugar was maintained higher due to the growth rate of lactic acid bacteria. The supercooled storage had an effect of delaying the fermentation of the salted Chinese cabbage, which may have the effect of delaying the fermentation of kimchi. This enhancement method of the direct refrigerator was effective for the supercooled storage and would be promising for commercial use.

For the vessel export of strawberries, modified atmosphere package (MAP) using polyamide (PA) film and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) film was investigated to extend the shelf life of strawberries. Because the temperature and relative humidity changes of the MAP were lower than the changes of the control, the weight loss of the MAP were lower than that of the control. The low oxygen level and high carbon dioxide level were effective to decrease the fungal decay rate and to increase the hardness of strawberries. The Hunter’s color differences before and after storage showed no distinct difference between the MAP and the control. The lightness had a tendency to decrease while the redness increased. There were no significant changes of the soluble solids during the storage. The shelf life of strawberries could be extended to 16 days using the MAP considering the weight loss and the fungal decay rate. Thus, this MAP method using PA film and LLDPE film was effective to extend the shelf life of strawberries.