Abstract
This study examined the quality change of red peppers during storage at various temperatures and humidities. It was observed that red peppers showed mold at aw 0.75(>25% water content), discoloration at aw 0.33(<10%) and browning at aw 0.75(>19%). The most ideal condition of the storage for red peppers was a 13∼15% water content and 60${\pm}$5% RH. The storage life for whole red peppers were 2.0 months at 40$^{\circ}C$, 13.6 months at 25$^{\circ}C$, 27.3 months at 15$^{\circ}C$, 30.0 months at 10$^{\circ}C$, and 65.0 months at -3$^{\circ}C$. During any storage period above, level of capsanthin, browning and capsaicin were changed for whole peppers. Browning appeared to be a crucial factor for marketable quality of stored red peppers. It was found that the level of capsaicin & capsanthin have a miner relationship with marketable quality for consumer. Storing red peppers in nitrogen and vacuum atmosphere packing condition was found to be better than storing them in air at various temperatures in terms of storage life and quality maintenance. The nitrogen gas packaged red peppers kept longer shelf life and better quality compared with vacuum packaging.