Migration study of carvacrol as natural antioxidant in High Density Polyethylene for active packaging

Mercedes Ana Peltzer (1) , Jorge Wagner (2) , Alfonso Jiménez (3)

1 Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition & Food Sciences
2 Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología [Buenos Aires]
3 Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition & Food Sciences

Migration of low molecular weight compounds in food packaging materials is one of the key issues in assessing the possibility of use in such application. The aim of this work is to study the migration of carvacrol (1wt% and 2wt%) when added to high density polyethylene. All materials were exposed to olive oil and distilled water separately, as food simulants, at 40şC and 25şC. Three significant variables influencing the migration process were considered: incubation temperatures, initial concentration of antioxidant and type of simulant (oil and aqueous). The amount of carvacrol migrating to olive oil was clearly higher than in water and this was because of the higher solubility of this antioxidant in oil. Experimental results agreed reasonably well with those obtained by the application of a simple model derived from Fick's Second Law. Carvacrol could be used in active packaging formulations as its release from the polymer matrix could be controlled.

Mots clés: Life Sciences

Mercedes Ana Peltzer, Jorge Wagner, Alfonso Jiménez. Migration study of carvacrol as natural antioxidant in High Density Polyethylene for active packaging. Food Additives and Contaminants, 2009, 26 (06), pp.938-946. ⟨10.1080/02652030802712681⟩. ⟨hal-00577358⟩