As consumers seek fewer preservatives in packaged food – while the environment needs less plastic waste – Cornell scientists are finding ways to make active packaging materials with a biologically-derived polymer that helps salad dressings, marinades and beverages last longer in the fridge.
As consumers seek fewer preservatives in packaged food – while the environment needs less plastic waste – Cornell scientists are finding ways to make active packaging materials with a biologically-derived polymer that helps salad dressings, marinades and beverages last longer in the fridge.
The new Cornell research will be published in June in the journal Food Packaging and Shelf Life.
“Active packaging gives us a new way to prolong shelf life despite consumer demands for cleaner labels,” said Ian Kay, a doctoral student in food science. “But it’s tricky. Foods and beverages have varying and complex composition, so we need to know a lot about the chemistry of the food and the active packaging to figure out which system works for which foods.”
Joshua Herskovitz, Ph.D. ’20, who studied in the laboratory of Julie Goddard, professor of food science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, grafted the corn-derived polylactic acid polymer with the antioxidant nitrilotriacetic acid to use it in food packaging. Kay, following up on Herskovitz’s work, figured out the material’s “interfacial pKa,” which tells you at which pH the foods in this packaging might work to keep from spoiling.
As the antioxidant is bound to the polylactic acid, the preservative can interact with the food but not migrate into it.
Read more at: Cornell University
Doctoral student Ian Kay, working in the laboratory of food science professor Julie Goddard, conducts research on biologically derived polymer for packaging to help food last longer. (Photo Credit: Ryan Young/Cornell University)
