Sensory Qualities of Selected Canned Foods Subjected to Short–term Storage

Canned asparagus cut, corn kernels, peas and apple slices were produced from respective frozen products, which were obtained from a local frozen food packer. Commercial processing procedures were followed for this production. Immediately after the production, the canned foods were randomly divided into five different lots and initiated storage at ‐29, 2, 4.5, 21 or 38°C for slightly over 1 yr. During this storage, the products were sampled at five different dates and subjected to the evaluation of overall sensory quality by a flavor panel. For this evaluation, those stored at ‐29°C were used as reference samples to determine flavor difference scores. It was generally observed that samples stored at 38°C deteriorated at considerably faster rates as compared to those stored at the lower temperatures. The storage at 2, 4.5 or 21°C did not result in severe loss of the quality during the entire test period. Changes in the flavor difference scores may be mathematically represented with polynominal functions of storage time and temperature according to the regression analysis of data collected.