Despite the modernization of food production and increased environmental consciousness, 21.6% and 18.5% of U.S. landfilled waste is food and plastic. Preservatives like metal chelators are added to foods to limit metal mediated oxidation and enhance antimicrobial efficacy. Yet, concerns regarding environmental contamination and consumer desire for clean label foods present an opportunity for new packaging technologies. Nonmigratory active packaging exploits immobilizing active substances to base polymers, limiting spoilage without migrating to the food product. Yet, this technology has been applied to neither biodegradable polymers nor produced using an industrially translatable approach, leading to limited adoption in the depths of worthy innovations. Two synthesis mechanisms (radical grafting and oxazoline coupling) utilizing reactive extrusion were developed to graft biodegradable polylactic acid with a metal chelator, forming PLA–g–NTA and PLA.PBO.NTA respectively. Successful grafting was confirmed with the emergence of new alkyl stretches in ATR–FTIR spectra for both synthesis mechanisms and the disappearance of the characteristic oxazoline band for PLA.PBO.NTA samples. Decreases in advancing and receding contact angle for functionalized films were observed, suggested a shift in the surface hydrophobicity associated to proper surface grafting. Functionalized films also displayed significant Fe(III) chelation (PLA–g–-NTA: 54.09 nmol/cm2 and PLA.PBO.NTA: 33.52 nmol/cm2) and capacity to delay ascorbic acid oxidation, retaining greater than 44% and 47% respectively over the course of the study. As inadvertent microbial growth accounts for about 25% of global food losses, immobilization of antimicrobials as well as its enhancement with metal chelators for nonmigratory active packaging exemplifies next generation biodegradable materials for food packaging applications. Thus, the efficacy of different model chelating ligands (carboxylic acid, iminodiacetic acid, aminomethylphosphonic acid) with nisin were investigated against Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris, a target acidophilic juice spoilage microorganism, in apple juice. The creation of biodegradable nonmigratory active packaging through reactive extrusion provides a scalable approach to limit the environmental impact from packaged food products by extending its lifespan without the direct addition of preservatives and eliminating the accumulation of plastic packaging in the environment.

Industrially translatable active packaging technologies to improve sustainable food systems

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.