Shelf Life of Nori from Gracilaria sp. with Polypropylene (PP) Packaging Based on the Accelerated Shelf Life Test Method

This research was conducted at the Laboratory of Fisheries Products Processing, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences, Padjadjaran University, Jatinangor, West Java, Indonesia. The purpose of this research was to determine the shelf life of Nori from Gracilaria sp. with the Accelerated Shelf Life Test (ASLT) method Arrhenius Model using Polypropylene (PP) packaging. Gracilaria is a genus of red algae (Rhodophyta) used as a food for humans and various species of shellfish. Polypropylene (PP) is a shiny, clear plastic with good optical properties and tensile resistance. The determination of the shelf life of the ASLT method is carried out using parameters of environmental conditions that can accelerate the process of product quality degradation, namely by storing the product at several temperatures above normal storage temperature. The observations used in determining the shelf life of Gracilaria sp. using a sensory test and a water content test with storage for 35 days, at a temperature of 25°C and 35°C. The calculation results of the Arrhenius model used texture parameters as critical parameters because those had the lowest Activation Energy (Ea) in determining the shelf life of Gracilaria sp. which is packaged using PP plastic. The results showed the value used for determining the shelf life of nori Gracilaria sp. namely texture parameters based on the order 0 reaction with the Arrhenius plot Ln K = -2.0381 - 214.63 (1 / T) and Ea of 1784.6485. The shelf life of nori Gracilaria sp. was found to be elongated if stored at room temperature of (25°C) which was around 94 days.