**6. Conclusions**

Pecans are nuts rich in oil and, especially in unsaturated fatty acids making them prone to oxidation. Oxidative damage leads to a decrease in overall quality, appearance of rancidity, loss of sweetness, typical flavor, darkening, and texture defects. Unshelled pecans stored at room temperature begin oxidizing between 6 and 8 months postharvest. This can be avoided or diminished using low-temperature of storage until reaching the next harvest period. Other strategy for retail is the storage of shelled pecans, but they are more susceptible to oxidation than shelled nuts because the shell contains many phenolic antioxidants that can form a protective barrier against oxidation. For that reason, shelled nuts may be submitted to coating, packaging, and temperature or the use of a modified atmosphere to preserve the quality of kernels.

The use of nitrogen or atmosphere modifiers allowed to store of unshelled pecans at room temperature. Research on packaging and atmosphere may be also a key factor in the storage and distribution of bulk nuts in 25 kg bags.
