Abstract
New PET and nanosepiolite materials are produced for its application in innovative packaging with better performance. In our previous work, we demonstrate that the use of different percentages of sepiolite modified with different organosilanes improved mechanical and barrier properties of PET. Nanocomposites permeability can decrease up to 30% compared to that of pure PET and the mechanical analyses show that, although PET nanocomposites are more brittle than virgin PET, they are also harder. In the present work, we are going to study the properties of this innovative packaging with real food analyzing mechanical properties related to the product transport together with permeability and microbiological characteristics. At the same time, it has been seen that it is possible to lighten trays, which is very important both industrially and environmentally. On the other hand, a good quality packaging for food needs to ensure that organoleptic and physico-chemical characteristics of the product inside are not modified due to migration of any of the packaging material to the food itself. Results obtained in this work also show lower count of aerobic mesophilic bacteria and Enterobacteriaceae (EB), reducing the incidence of food contaminations by microorganisms.
Highlights
Food packaging has many useful functions, such as food containment, marketing, protection, and preservation during the shelf life of a product
The microbiological quality of chicken fillets was assessed by determining the number of mesophilic aerobic bacteria, and Enterobacteriaceae. These analyses will help us determine if microbial load of those species in chicken, packed in nanocomposite trays, is lower than that packed in regular poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), in order to have an idea of food sanitary quality
It has been analyzed before [6], the effect caused by different nanosepiolite masterbatches concentration on the final nanocomposite properties
Summary
Food packaging has many useful functions, such as food containment, marketing, protection, and preservation during the shelf life of a product. The legislation records the lists of permitted substances to be used in food contact materials, this is the “positive list”. Each of this substance has its migration limit specified, in order to avoid food toxicity. Within food packaging applications, improving shelf life of packed poultry is a huge challenge for the industry. One of the most important food packaging systems is MAP, where the food is packed, together with a certain mixture of gases that will keep freshness of the food, enhancing preservation, and extending shelf life. The migration analysis of the trays, as well as microbiological tests are done to prove the possibility of using this material for food packaging, complying with actual legislation
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