Applicability of biobased packaging materials for long shelf-life food products

Abstract

Abstract The research aim was to evaluate the applicability of biobased plastics for packing long shelf-life food products, both on laboratory and industrial scale. Therefore, the shelf-life (room temperature) of tortilla chips, dry biscuits and potato flakes packed under air or modified atmosphere (MAP) in xylan and cellulose-based packages was evaluated and compared with their shelf-life in reference (conventional) packaging materials. These tests were followed by packaging trials on industrial lines. Furthermore, overall migration studies and printability tests were performed. Most of the biobased packages showed sufficient barrier towards moisture and gasses to serve as a food packaging material and MAP packaging of long shelf-life food products is possible. But for very moisture-sensitive food products (e.g. dry biscuits), no suited packaging material was found. The quality of the tortilla chips and potato flakes could be guaranteed during their shelf-life, even if packaging materials with lower barrier properties were used. Still, brittleness and seal properties are critical for use on industrial scale (important for use on vertical flow packaging machines). Furthermore, the films were printable and migration tests showed compliance with legislation. This study shows promising results towards the industrial application of biobased packaging materials for long shelflife food products.