Storage studies on shelled pea in polymeric films

A study on packaging of shelled pea was undertaken to evaluate the effect of type of polymeric film, thickness, perforation level and type of packaging (pouch packaging, shrink wrapping and vacuum packaging) on the keeping quality under different storage conditions. The keeping quality was observed in terms of physiological loss in weight (PLW), decay, firmness and shrinkage. Based on these parameters, it was found that pouch packages having perforations were better than vacuum packages and shrink wrapping. The thickness and type of film, for packages having perforations, had no effect on the keeping quality parameters except PLW. Low density polyethylene, 100 gauge package with perforation area 4.34x10⁻² percent i.e. 8 holes of diameter 1. 6 mm on each side of the LD-100 film package, having dimensions 20 cm x 18. 5 cm, was found to be the best for shelled pea. Refrigeration storage was found to be must as after packaging in the best package it extended the storage period as compared to room temperature storage from 8 days to 17 days.