Shelf Life Estimation of Sweet Corn Based on Its Total Soluble Solid by Using Arrhenius Model

Sweet corn has short shelf life at room temperature storage in the tropical countries (28-33 degrees C). The quality deterioration of sweet corn can be determined by the decrease of its sugar content. The study aimed to estimate the shelf life of sweet corn based on the reduction of its total soluble solid (TSS) by using Arrhenius model. The samples were prepared from fresh harvested corn stored for 10 days at 3 different temperatures of 5, 15 and 28 degrees C. Total soluble solid (TSS) were analyzed every day by using abbe refractrometer. Organoleptic analysis was used by using hedonic scales from 1 to 7. The analysis was conducted until respondents had graded the samples at score 5 (dislike slightly), 6 (dislike) and 7 (dislike extremely) The Arrhenius model was applied at null and first order degradation Results showed thet both approaches can be used to calculate the shelf life of sweet corn. The acceleration factor for the TSS degradation at null order was 1.49 which the acceleration factor for the TSS degradation at first order was 1.51 By using the null order approach, it was estimated that if the sweet corn were stored at temperature of 30, 25, 20, 15, 10 and 5 degrees C, the shelf life was 3.7,4.5,5.5,6.7,8.2 and 10 days, respectively. while by using the first order approach, at the same storage temperatures, the shelf life of sweet corn would be 3.7, 4.5, 5.6, 6.8, 8.4, and 10.3 days. In conclusion, the shelf life predictions of sweet corn were valid well with the experimental results.