STUDY OF THE DEGRADATION KINETIC OF HARDNESS AND THE ESTIMATED SHELF-LIFE OF SWEET CHERRY UNDER NON-ISOTHERMAL CONDITIONS

In order to predict the shelf life of different treated sweet cherry (P.avium L.) under non-isothermal conditions,the degradation first class kinetic model of the hardness in sweet cherry stored at 0、5、10、25℃ was established.And the accuracy of the kinetic model was verified by simulating "broken chain" and "temperature fluctuation" phenomenon in the cold chain process.The result showed that the coefficients of determination (R²) of the kinetic model of hardness under non-isothermal conditions were greater than 0.97 and the root-mean-square error (RMSE) was close to zero.The model was proved to accurately predict the shelf life of sweet cherry under different non-isothermal conditions.The shelf life of sweet cherry coated with chitosan was extended 6.1 d compared with the that of control,indicating that the chitosan coating could significantly inhibit the softening of sweet cherry under non-isothermal conditions.Therefore,it could provide a basis for accurate prediction of quality changes of sweet cherry during cold chain.