Restrepo Flórez, C. E.Montes Álvarez, JulioGómez Álvarez, L. M.Cano Salazar, J. A.2020-12-102020-12-102012Revista Lasallista de Investigación– Vol. 9 No. 2 - 20121794-4449http://hdl.handle.net/10567/2815In Colombia corn arepas are an eth-nic type of food and a basic product of the food basket. One of the main inconvenients associated to their conservation is their deterioration by molds and yeast, which limits the product ́s life to five days. There is a lack of knowledge concerning the impor-tance of managing the cold chain, and therefore it is not being properly applied in the arepa ́s commer-cialization. Objective. Evaluating the following as-pects: combined conservation systems by the use of gas mixtures (100% CO2 , 40% CO2 /60% N2 and vacuum), Packaging structures of intermediate and high barrier, to gases, Temperature control in stora-ge, aiming to increase the arepa ́s life for its national and international commercialization. Methodology.Microbiological, sensorial and physical-chem analysis were performed in order to determine the life of the product, according to NTC 5372 regula-tion, during 65 days, evaluating the arepa ́s stability at room temperature, refrigerated and under fluc-tuating conditions, mixing room temperature and refrigeration. The experimental design consisted of the evaluation of the effect of the three storage conditions combined with two packaging structu-res: high barrier (PET/LDPE/EVOH/LDPE top and BOPA/EVOH/BOPA/LDPE bottom in 150 microns) and intermediate (PET/LDPE/EVOH/LDPE top and BOPA/EVOH/BOPA/LDPE bottom in 130 microns) packaging gases (100% CO2,40% CO2 /60% N2 and Vacuum). Results. The 100% CO2 combination –intermediate barrier- kept the microbiological and sensorial characteristics during 9 days at room temperature (25°C ± 2°C), 28 days under fluctua-ting conditions and 5 days refrigerated (5°C ± 2°C), thus increasing the arepa ́s stability an 80% when stored at room temperature, and 100% in refrige-ration. Conclusion. The evaluation of the different treatments used to conserve corn arepas permitted to establish that treatment number three, in which a 100% CO2 atmosphere and an intermediate barrier package were used, conserved the quality characte-ristics of the product for a longer time.esAcceso abiertoCorporación Universitaria LasallistaMaízProductos agrícolasProductos agrícolas - Conservacióninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAcces