Measuring the Effects of Automatic Replenishment on Product Availability in Retail Stores

Maintaining product availability is one of the biggest challenges in retail business because it directly relates to lost sale and decrease in customer loyalty. A solution that ensures a more accurate prediction and eliminates costly stock-outs and wasteful overstocks is an automatic replenishment system. The goal of this paper is to measure the impact that the automatic replenishment system can have on product availability in retail business, especially when it comes to specific product and store related risk factors. A large quantitative study measured the performance of manual and automatic replenishment processes in a sample of 85 stores and 95 products of a major retail chain in Serbia. The study concluded that utilization of an automatic replenishment system can reduce stock-outs for the retail chains up to 60%. Specifically, when ordered through an automatic replenishment system, fast-selling products recorded 40% greater availability, products on promotion 48% higher availability, and products in a high-density retail stores 59% higher availability. The findings extend current understanding of automatic replenishment systems, and especially their performance related to high-risk retail conditions.

Effect of lemongrass and mint essential oils combined with food additives soaking solution on the quality of Pangasius fillets during cold storage

Pangasius fillet has high demand in the international market due to its tender flesh, delicate taste and as an affordable substitute for cod and other more expensive white fishes. The preliminary study, it was found that the optimized condition for soaking was NaCl 1.32%, STPP 1.88%, and sorbitol 4.68% for 30 mins which give a significant effect (p<0.05) to the yield, water activity, pH, and improvement in the sensory of the treated fillet. However, the soaking itself was not contributed to the extension of shelf life. This study aimed to examine the effects of Pangasius fillet soaked in essential oil on the quality and shelf life with simulated storage similar to retail conditions. Lemongrass essential oil was showing the best result in improving the quality and shelf life of Pangasius fillet stored in refrigerated storage (0-4˚C). The addition of 0.2% lemongrass showed 7 days extension of shelf-life or longer compared to fillet without soaking and fillet soaking without essential oil. In addition, it also reduces the Total Volatile BasedNitrogen (TVB-N) content, improves the sensory quality (raw and cooked) of Pangasius fillet. Mint essential oil was showing the shelf-life extension (7 days longer) and sensory improvement at 0.3% concentration. However, the mint essential oil was not showing better TVB-N reduction in treated fillet compared to fillet soaking without essential oil. Therefore, it is recommended to incorporate 0.2% lemongrass essential oil for the Pangasius industry to extend the shelf life of Pangasius fillet followed with quality improvement

In-package moisture supports quality maintenance of white asparagus

White asparagus is a highly appreciated, high-value crop with a distinguished economic relevance among vegetables. Freshly harvested asparagus is available only during a short part of the year and the demand varies. The produce is perishable and only proper handling can ensure its quality after a reasonable shelf life. In this study, we investigated a new method to reduce one of the most important reasons for quality decline: fresh matter losses. The potential benefits or disadvantages of moist asparagus packaging for unpeeled white asparagus (cv. ‘Gijnlim’) was tested. We used polythene sleeves or bags, lined with cellulose fleece to hold added water for moisturizing. 500 g bunches of spears were filled in the bags. Spears were partly covered by the sleeves or totally covered by the bags. All spears were stored for 3 to 11 days at the temperature of 2°C, 8°C and a combination of 2°C/22°C.The last temperatures were to simulate retail conditions. In wet bags spear fresh weight increased, losses in bags with dry fleece were low. Maintaining of fresh weight in wet bags coincided significantly with higher bending firmness, and lower shear force, which points to less fibrousness. Wet storage also reduced the incidence of dried cut surfaces but promoted the incidence of lengthwise fractures and, in combination with higher temperature, grey-brown discolouration and colour saturation. Wet packaging may be beneficial primarily under low temperature and low air humidity storage conditions.

Microbial Status of White Asparagus Spears during Storage in Moist Packages

ABSTRACT White asparagus is a high-value commodity of large economic importance in Germany. Its harvest period lasts only a limited part of the year, during which daily yield and also market demand are highly variable. Harvested asparagus is perishable; thus, quality control and shelf life must be ensured by proper handling, e.g., avoiding fresh weight losses and, at the same time, limiting microbial growth. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of moist asparagus packaging on unpeeled white asparagus (cv. Gijnlim). Water was added to some of the packages to reduce fresh weight losses and to study the consequences for microbial growth. Polythene bag packaging, lined inside with cellulose fleece, was used to hold 500-g bunches of spears, covered partly (open bag) or totally (closed bag). Storage duration was 7 days, at temperatures of 2°C, 8°C, and a combination of 2 and 22°C, simulating retail conditions. Using a standardized cultivation method for food assessment, CFU counts (5.20 to 7.95 log CFU), number of pseudomonads (4.79 to 7.90 log CFU), lactic acid bacteria (&lt;3.00 to 3.94 log CFU), Enterobacteriaceae (4.26 to 7.15 log CFU, including Escherichia coli &lt;1.00 log CFU), yeasts (&lt;2.30 to 3.15 to 3.53 log CFU), and molds (&lt;2.30 log CFU), as well as sulfite-reducing clostridia (&lt;1 log CFU) were determined. Temperature was the most important factor for microbial growth. Additional water had no effect in most cases; it inhibited most of the fresh weight losses compared to dry treatments in this study but led to 2% weight increase in closed bags. Our results point to the conclusion that moist packaging would be a feasible alternative to dry wrapping with regard to weight retention, and it did not increase growth of the analyzed microbial groups to an unacceptable value.

THE EFFECT OF POST-HARVEST TREATMENT AND STORAGE CONDITIONS ON VITAMIN C CONTENT IN TWO LEAFY PARSLEY CULTIVARS

The objective of the study was to determine the content of vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) in two leafy parsley (Petroselinum crispum Mill. Fuss) cultivars subjected to different post-harvest treatments. Ascorbic acid (AA), due to its instability, is one of the indicators of leafy vegetable freshness and quality. High content of this compound in vegetables is desired because of its bioactive properties. The cultivars differ in morphology of usable parts: ‘Rialto’ has flat lamina and ‘Petra’ triple-curled lamina. The plant material was obtained in 2015 and 2016 from experimental field in Warsaw-Wilanów. The leaves were washed directly after harvest: a) in tap water or b) in tap water with ozone added. Two methods of postharvest storage were applied: A) at the cold store and B) under simulated retail conditions. In the case of cold store method (A), the plants were tied in tufts and stored at the temperature of 0 °C and RH 90 % for 7, 14, 28 days in two variants: 1) in containers, where leaves petioles were immersed in water, and 2) in special bulk modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), dedicated to fresh herbs (Stepac, Israel). In the case of storage under simulated retail conditions (B), the leaves were kept for 48 hours at 10 °C, RH 30-40 % in two variants: 1) tufts wrapped in perforated PE film with petioles immersed in water, and 2) packed to retail MAPs, dedicated to leafy herbs (Stepac, Israel). Concentration of L-ascorbic acid in the leaves was determined spectrophotometrically, with the method based on reaction of Folin’s phenol reagent in low pH. Fresh and stored ‘Rialto’ leaves were characterised by a higher concentration of AA than ‘Petra’ leaves (110 and 44 mg g -1 f.w., respectively). Significant decrease of AA after ozone treatment was observed only for ‘Rialto’ directly after harvest. Storage length had significant influence on the content of AA in both cultivars. Decrease of AA content was observed during storage period. Average concentration of AA after 7 days of storage was 85 and 44 -1 f.w. for ‘Rialto’ and ‘Petra’, respectively. After 28 days of storage the concentration was 54% lower for ‘Rialto’ and 36% lower for ‘Petra’, compared to the initial content. Leaves after simulated retail conditions showed slightly lower AA content than those stored for 7 days in the cold room. Retail MAPs guaranteed significantly higher preservation of AA in both cultivars than wrapping in film with immersing in water. Washing in ozone-added water showed influence only on AA content in ‘Rialto’ leaves wrapped in film – they showed lower concentration of AA under simulated retail conditions. Our study showed that the content of AA in parsley leaves was cultivar dependent. Ozone treatment did not have negative effect on AA during the storage. Storage duration, rather than packaging methods, plays a key role in preservation of high content of AA. However, method of packaging is important under retail conditions, where temperature is higher and RH is much lower, than at a cold room.

Solvent Free-microwave Green Extraction of Essential Oil from Orange Peel (Citrus sinensis L.): Effects on Shelf Life of Flavored Liquid Whole Eggs during Storage under Commercial Retail Conditions

A possible way to valorize citrus peels, which are byproducts of the juice extraction industry, is to use them as natural biopreservatives. In this paper we present early results from a compared Solvent Free Microwave Extraction (SFME) with Hydro-Distillation (HD) and Cold Pressing (CP) of essential oils (EOs) using fresh orange peel (Citrus sinensis L. var. Valencia late), a by-product in the production of orange juice in Algeria. The EOs were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). All extracted C. sinensis EOs were chemotype limonene (94.64 to 95.48%). SFME is performed without added any solvent or water. SFME increases EO yield and eliminate wastewater treatment, resulting in a great progress in terms of time and cost efficiency. In its second part, the present study was conducted to evaluate &ldquo;in vitro&rdquo;, the antioxidant activities of Solvent Free Microwave (SFM) extracted orange EO by using the DPPH&bull; (2,2-di-phenyl-1-picrilhydrazyl) free radical scavenging assay. The ability of orange EO to scavenge the free radical DPPH&bull; was high, exceeding 80%. The result of the DPPH assay gives an IC50 range value of 89.25 &mu;g/mL (0.09 mg/mL) for the studied sample. Accordingly to the scientific literature, C. sinensis EO tested in the present study presented strong antioxidant activity, when looking to its values of AAI = 1.12 &mu;g/mL. The feasibility of biopreservation used EOs as an alternative to synthetic techniques for liquid whole egg (LWE) stored under commercial retail conditions was investigated. The orange EO extracted by SFM was screened for its antibacterial and antioxidant activities in LWE at concentrations of 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5%. The TBA-RS results showed that the EO treatments significantly (p &lt; 0.05) reduced the lipid oxidation in LWE. The long term oxidative, microbial and organoleptical stability of the LWE during display was positively influenced by orange EO treatments. Therefore, the results obtained here confirm that EO treatment as a promising technology to extend the commercial shelf-life of liquid egg products during retail/display.