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4. Conte A., Conversa G., Scrocco C., Brescia I., Laverse J., Elia A., Del Nobile M.A. 2008. Influenceof Growing Periods on the Quality of Baby Spinach Leaves at Harvest and DuringStorage as Minimally Processed Produce. Postharvest Biology and Technology. 50, 190-196.In this work the influence of different growing periods on quality and decay of fresh-cut baby spinach leaves duringchilling storage was assessed. Three different spinach crops were sown on October, December and January,respectively. On January, February and March the vegetable leaves were harvested, analyzed for nitrate, oxalate,vitamin C and chlorophyll content and, after the minimal processing operations, the leaves were packaged andstored a 5°C. During storage, respiration rate, microbiological quality, dry matter, chlorophyll content and colorparameters were monitored. Results show that in all harvests the initial quality of leaves is acceptable, althoughslight changes may be due to climatic conditions variability.5. Del Nobile M.A., Conte A., Cannarsi M., Sinigaglia M. 2008. Use of Biodegradable Films forprolonging the Shelf Life of Minimally Processed Lettuce. Journal of Food Engineering. 85,317-325.The ability of biodegradable films to prolong the shelf life of minimally process lettuce stored at 4 °C was addressed.Four different films were tested: two polyester-based biodegradable films (NVT1, NVT2), a multilayerfilm made by laminating an aluminum foil with a polyethylene film (All-PE), and an oriented polypropylene film(OPP). Package headspace, microbial load and color of the packed lettuce were monitored for a period of 9 days.A simple mathematical model was used to calculate the senescence level, whereas the re-parameterized Gompertzequation was used to calculate microbial shelf life of the fresh product. The fastest quality decay kineticwas observed for the lettuce packed in OPP, whereas the slowest one was detected for that in All-PE. Resultssuggest that the gas permeability of the investigated films plays a major role in determining the quality of thepacked produce. Moreover, it was observed that biodegradable films guarantee a shelf life longer than that ofOPP.SISTAL - SOCIETA’ ITALIANA DI SCIENZE E TECNOLOGIE ALIMENTARIDipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agroalimentari, Università degli Studi della TusciaVia San Camillo de Lellis, 01100 ViterboTel.: 0761- 35 74 94/7 , Fax: 0761- 35 74 98, e-mail: mmoresi@unitus.it122