ABSTRACT
Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the physical and chemical changes in cashew nut flour under different packaging and storage conditions. The flour samples were characterized according to their chemical composition, packaged in polystyrene trays associated with covering chloride polyvinyl (PVC), plastic pot of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), plastic packaging polyethylene (POL) and without coating polystyrene trays (CON). All packages were stored for 225 days, evaluating every 45 days the moisture content of the flour as well as extracting their oil by the cold method for characterization on the following indexes: acidity, saponification, iodine, peroxide and refraction. There was slight and gradual increase in the moisture content from the 45th to the 225th day, especially for products packaged in PVC and without coating polystyrene trays (CON). The oil saponification indexes showed gradual decrease during storage, especially in flour without packaging (CON). There was a gradual increase in the iodine index until the 135th day, followed by decay. The acidity and peroxide indexes increased along with the storage time. However packages with lower oxygen and moisture permeability, such as PET and POL, minimized such changes, being therefore the most suitable for long-term storage.