Relationships Between Fermentative Gas Pressure and Quality Changes of Packaged Kimchi at Different Temperatures

Kimchi packed in polypropylene(PP) tray was stored at different temperatures (0, 10, ) to investigate the relationships between fermentative gas pressure and quality changes. The quality of Kimchi during storage was evaluated in terms of pH, titratable acidity, color, and sensory properties. The fermentative gas pressure changes due to evolution showed typical sigmoidal curves at each temperature. Accordingly, inflation of Kimchi packages caused by increasing gas pressure occurred in 40 hours, 5 and 30 days at 20, 10, , respectively, at which gas pressure inside the packages ranged . Following inflation, Kimchi packages stored at 20 and were burst out on 3 and 8 days, but those at were not. As the fermentative gas pressure increased, pH decreased (r > 0.968) and titratable acidity increased (r > 0.973) proportionally. Regarding to the color change of crushed Kimchi juice, L and b values were decreased exponentially, but a value remained constant during storage. Among sensory properties, the sourness and texture scores showed good accordance with pH changes. In conclusion, although Kimchi kept optimal tastes during storage, the inflation of package restricted shelf-life of Kimchi.