Earticle

In this study, pro-oxidant(d2w®) and rPP/ZnO nanocomposite flexible films for food packaging were prepared, and their mechanical and antimicrobial properties were investigated. As a result, the carbonyl index and hydroxyl index increased with exposured time to heat and UV rays. Surface analysis showed that the addition of zinc oxide improved the dispersibility and compatibility of the polymer, so that the surface of the composite film was smooth and the zinc oxide particles were smaller than the compared film. And it kept the physical properties by heat and UV ray blocking effect, and it worked to reduce decomposition. In the antimicrobial activity test, the microbial reduction rate was 3 logs or more at the use concentration of zinc oxide. The tensile strength was increased and the elongation was decreased. Oxidative degradability of multi-layered film in UV exposured for 72 hours, the molecular weight of the film decreased by 75.6%, 1,294 g/mol Mn and 5,920 g/mol Mw. In the safety analysis of food packaging materials, we obtained that are in standard of polypropylene, a food contact material of domestic law.

Powdered infant formula is susceptible to oxidation in the presence of oxygen. Even though the product is usually packaged in nitrogen atmosphere, the oxygen ingress through the package layer may occur in case of flexible pouches and affects the oxidation of the product. O2 barrier of the package is thus important variable to protect the product from oxidative deterioration. O2 barrier property was investigated for aluminum-laminated small pillow packs of 3.5×17.5 cm. Storage temperature and combination of primary and secondary packages were evaluated as variables affecting the barrier for conditions of empty pouch flushed with nitrogen. Apparent oxygen transmission rate of the primary package exposed to air was 2.32×10-3 mL (STP) atm-1 d-1 at 30°C and its temperature dependence could be explained by activation energy of 28.5 kJ mol-1 in Arrhenius relationship. The additional secondary package of nylon/PE film containing 20 primary packages was ineffective in modulating package O2 transmission and was only marginally helpful when combined with oxygen scavenger. The same was true in suppressing the product oxidation when the primary package was filled with 14 g of the formula.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of vacuum packaging on the quality characteristics of frozen Tteokgalbi made from spent laying hen meat and mechanically deboned chicken meat (MDCM). The samples were prepared with different levels of added MDCM; C (0%), T1 (20%), T2 (40%), and T3 (60%). The samples were allocated for microbiological and physico-chemical analyses after 0, 45, and 90 days at -18°C, with or without vacuum packaging. After 90 days of storage, the values of volatile basic nitrogen were significantly lower in the vacuum packaged samples compared to the non-vacuum samples, irrespective of the added levels of MDCM (p<0.05). Sensory results at day 0 of storage showed that the texture scores of C and T1 samples were significantly higher than those of T2 and T3, while the flavor scores were the lowest for the T3 samples (p<0.05). In addition, with increased storage duration, the texture and flavor attributes of the vacuum-packaged samples were found to be higher than those of non-vacuum samples. In general, the vacuum-packaged samples tended to show superior physico-chemical quality characteristics compared to the non-vacuum samples, when the storage time was extended up to 90 days.

In this work, nano ZnO was introduced into low density poly ethylene (LDPE) composites films with various contents (0, 0.5, 1.0, 3.0 and 5.0 wt%) by melt-extrusion. Their basic properties such as crystallinity, chemical bonds and surface morphology were examined by XRD, FTIR and SEM. XRD patterns and FTIR peaks intensity were increased in proportion to the ZnO contents. SEM images showed well dispersed nano ZnO in LDPE composite films. Antimicrobial functionality of LDPE-nano ZnO composite films was also studied and the presence of nano ZnO resulted in significant improvement of antimicrobial functionality compared to the pure LDPE film. To evaluate influence of nano ZnO on LDPE properties required as packaging material, thermal, mechanical, gas barrier and optical properties of LDPE-nano ZnO composite films were characterized with various analytical techniques including TGA, UTM, OTR, WVTR and UV-Vis spectroscopy. As a result, except optical and mechanical properties of LDPE, no significant effects were found in other properties. Opacity of pure LDPE was greatly increased with increasing concentration of nano ZnO and tensile strength was also improved at 0.5wt% ZnO content.