Evaluation of enzymatic detergent efficiency in removing lipids from meat package

Abstract

<p>Food industry is increasingly concerned about their role in environmental responsibility. Recycling of meat package is a challenge since the presence of residual lipids limit the amount of recycled material that could be added to the pure material. In this work the efficiency of an enzymatic detergent in removing total lipids residues from discharged meat polyethylene package was evaluated. The experimental parameters were the enzymatic detergent concentration, temperature and the mass of package used during the detergent application. Soxhlet extraction (3 hours, 40 ºC,) was used to determine the amount of total lipids present in the package both before and after the use of the detergent. The solvent used was petroleum ether and the amount of total lipids was determined gravimetrically. The polyethylene meat package presented an initial amount of total lipids of (15.7± 0.7) %. Results demonstrated that the efficiency increased with the increase in temperature and detergent concentration as well as with the decrease in the mass of the polyethylene sample. Any decrease in the enzymatic activity was observed for the evaluated temperatures. Also there was a limit in the amount of polyethylene package that could be used probably because greater amounts of sample hindered stirring and homogenization. According to the experimental design the maximum efficiency is expected to be 81.72% when the following conditions are used: 54°C, enzymatic detergent concentration of 19g/L and a package sample amount of 4 grams.</p><p>DOI: 10.14685/rebrapa.v5i3.178</p>