The effect of vacuum-packaging on nutrient and Salmonella growth of sautéed vegetables

Abstract

Low consumption of vegetables was associated with a lack of cooking and preparation skills. In addition, in modern times, people tend to choose foods that can be served quickly. Vacuum packaging is a simple method of preserving food that can be done at home. Therefore, sautéed vegetables in vacuum packaging were developed and evaluated for their nutrients and microbiological properties. The vegetables, including spinach, carrots, and water spinach, were sautéed before being vacuum packaged. The related parameters, including carbohydrate, protein, ash, moisture, vitamin C, pH, and Salmonella sp., were evaluated. Some parameters were measured at 0, 7, and 14 days. The results showed that the samples contained carbohydrates ranging from 8.26-17.08%, 0.145-1.90% protein, 2.23 -2.49% fiber, 1.46-3.10% fat, 0.13-0.10% ash and 82.44-86.08% moisture. The Vitamin C content was similar during storage time, at day 0, 7 and 14. The pH of sautéed vegetables was relatively constant on days 0, 7 and 14. A high Salmonella sp. content was found during storage time on days 7 and 14. The vacuum-packaging of sautéed vegetables potentially maintained the nutrients during storage time until day 7. However, the results of this study indicated that there is still a possibility that vacuum packaging has not been able to reduce the growth of micro-bacteria in the package. Overall, this study implied that vacuum packaging with other treatments is needed for food safety reasons.