Retention of α‐tocopherol in low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP) in contact with foodstuffs and food‐simulating liquids

Abstract

Alpha-tocopherol occurs as a natural antioxidant in many foods and has also found use as a stabiliser in polymeric packaging materials. During storage of a food in contact with a plastic material, α-tocopherol may be released from the packaging material and transferred into the food. An active packaging application with the transfer of a substance, such as an antioxidant, from a packaging material to a food may help to prolong the shelf-life of the food. In this study, the retention of α-tocopherol in low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP) was investigated for contact with liquid foods with different fat contents and food simulants with different ethanol contents. The PP film exhibited excellent retention of α-tocopherol when in contact with all media, whereas some losses were observed from the LDPE film. A number of factors including fat, alcohol and organic acid contents of the various foodstuffs seemed to influence the loss of α-tocopherol from the LDPE film. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry