Retention of ?-tocopherol in low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP) in contact with foodstuffs and food-simulating liquids

✍ Scribed by Wessling, Carolina; Nielsen, Tim; Leufv�n, Anders; J�gerstad, Margaretha

• Book ID: 101225879
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 102 KB
• Volume: 79
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-5142
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0010(199909)79:12<1635::aid-jsfa413>3.0.co;2-#

✦ Synopsis

Alpha-tocopherol occurs as a natural antioxidant in many foods and has also found use as a stabiliser in polymeric packaging materials. During storage of a food in contact with a plastic material, a-tocopherol may be released from the packaging material and transferred into the food. An active packaging application with the transfer of a substance, such as an antioxidant, from a packaging material to a food may help to prolong the shelf-life of the food. In this study, the retention of atocopherol in low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP) was investigated for contact with liquid foods with different fat contents and food simulants with different ethanol contents. The PP ®lm exhibited excellent retention of a-tocopherol when in contact with all media, whereas some losses were observed from the LDPE ®lm. A number of factors including fat, alcohol and organic acid contents of the various foodstuffs seemed to in¯uence the loss of a-tocopherol from the LDPE ®lm.