title: Effective preservation techniques to prolong the shelf life of ready-to-eat oysters.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Oysters have a high commercial value but owing to their short shelf life are generally commercialized as raw material within very restricted market borders. A step-by-step optimization approach was used in this work to design ready-to-eat oyster packaging. In particular, six different steps were carried out in order to extend their shelf life.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The concentration of sodium alginate to realize a coating that was effective in terms of easy peeling and ability in preventing product dehydration was optimized. Coated oysters were packaged under different modified atmosphere (MAP) conditions to find the best MAP. Subsequently, to further promote product preservation, sodium acetate was selected as an effective antimicrobial agent to be applied by dipping treatment prior to coating. All preservation strategies singly tested were finally combined to assess the shelf life prolongation of ready-to-eat oysters.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dipping in sodium acetate (10 g L⁻¹), coating with sodium alginate (40 g L⁻¹) and packaging under MAP (0:75 O₂:CO₂) represent the best conditions to guarantee a significant shelf life extension to about 160 h compared with 57 h for unpackaged oysters.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Sciences, Food and Environment, University of Foggia, Via Napoli, 25, I-71122, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Amalia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Conte
authors.forename: Matteo Alessandro
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Del Nobile
mesh_terms: D000464:Alginates / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D017756:Aquaculture; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D049896:Crassostrea / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000382:microbiology; D057140:Fast Foods / Q000032:analysis* / Q000382:microbiology; D018857:Food Packaging; D005519:Food Preservation; D005520:Food Preservatives / Q000737:chemistry; D063427:Food Quality; D061353:Food Storage; D020723:Glucuronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D006603:Hexuronic Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D009812:Odorants; D012034:Refrigeration; D012677:Sensation; D012758:Shellfish / Q000032:analysis* / Q000382:microbiology; D019346:Sodium Acetate / Q000737:chemistry; D013499:Surface Properties; D013649:Taste
chemical_list: D000464:Alginates; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D005520:Food Preservatives; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; D019346:Sodium Acetate; D020723:Glucuronic Acid
keywords: oysters; packaging optimization; ready-to-eat; shelf life