Enhancing hass avocado preservation: Combination of modified atmosphere packaging and cinnamaldehyde-based active...

'Hass' avocado (Persea americana Mill.) is globally renowned for its sensory traits and nutritional value, particularly its unsaturated fats. Due to its perishable nature, refrigerated storage (4 °C) and air transport are typically required for international trade, which increases energy consumption and logistical complexity, ultimately contributing to a higher carbon footprint. This work evaluates preservation strategies at 10 °C, combining a passively modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) system with cinnamaldehyde-based active packaging (CA). Four treatments were applied: open trays (T1); a MAP system without CA (T2), and MAP-CA systems, incorporating varying amounts of CA (T3 and T4). Over 42 days, all MAP treatments (T2-T4) significantly reduced weight loss compared to T1, with MAP-CA (T3 and T4) maintaining higher moisture levels and better preserving fat content and profile. However, since MAP promoted internal moisture condensation, MAP alone caused earlier fungal appearance compared to MAP-CA. Analyses of headspace gas composition, colorimetry, and texture validated the role of CA released in retarding spoilage. The MAP-CA system with the higher CA concentration (T4) extended shelf life by at least 12 days (∼50 %) compared to MAP alone. This study presents a detailed analysis of the quality decay patterns of Hass avocado at 10 °C under different packaging approaches and demonstrates the potential of MAP-CA systems as an efficient solution for preservation as fresh produce that could be easily adopted by current supply chains, especially for international trade.