Quality Changes and Shelf Life Prediction of Phyllanthus emblica L. Preserved Fruit during Light-accelerated Storage

To investigate the effects of light exposure on the storage quality of Phyllanthus emblica L. preserved fruit and to establish a shelf-life prediction model, this study subjected two varieties, 'Huafeng' (HF) and 'Wild' (YS), packaged in transparent (TM) and light-blocking (BG) packaging bags were used as research objects. Accelerated storage experiments were carried out for 25 days at 25 ℃ and 2000 lux light conditions. Monitor 18 indicators changes, including color, texture, chemical composition, antioxidant activity, and sensory dynamically. Pearson correlation analysis and chemical kinetic modeling were integrated to construct a shelf-life prediction model, enabling the estimation of product stability based on critical quality attributes. The results demonstrated that light exposure significantly accelerated quality deterioration. Notably, the L^* value, b^* value, hardness, elasticity, chewiness, moisture content, total acid, total sugar, reducing sugar, ascorbic acid, total phenols, flavonoids, antioxidant activity, and overall sensory score decreased significantly (P<0.05), whereas the a^* value, ΔE value, and cohesiveness increased (P<0.05). Light-blocking (BG) packaging effectively delayed this deterioration. On day 25, the overall sensory scores ranked as follows: BG-YS>BG-HF>TM-YS>TM-HF. Pearson correlation analysis identified L^* value, elasticity, and ascorbic acid content as the indicators most strongly correlated with sensory score. These were selected as key predictors, and their degradation followed zero-order kinetics. The established shelf-life prediction model showed a relative deviation between predicted and actual values of less than 10%, confirming its accuracy and reliability for the rapid assessment of the product's shelf life.