INFLUENCE OF AN INNOVATIVE, BIODEGRADABLE MULTILAYER ACTIVE PACKAGING ON “PESTO” SAUCE CHARACTERISTICS DURING STORAGE

Active packaging is one of the emerging technologies developed as an alternative to traditional one, to maintain and increase shelf life of foods. In this study an innovative, biodegradable multilayer active packaging, with excellent oxygen barrier properties, has been realized to extend the shelf life of “Genovese pesto” sauce. The use of biodegradable material for food packaging in fact, has been very limited because these polymers have generally poor barriers against external agents and weak mechanical properties. In this study, cold plasma treatment was employed to obtain the adhesion of two layers of polylactic acid (PLA) films, in place of synthetic adhesives, and also to immobilize ascorbic acid used as an oxygen scavenger active agent. Preliminary studies were performed on activated pouches filled with sunflower oil, used as a model system, to evaluate the performances of the new PLA packaging. Packed oil samples were stored in thermal abuse conditions at 35 °C, to accelerate oil oxidation phenomenon and analysed for peroxide value and colour during 64 days of storage. Subsequently, different samples of refrigerated “pesto”, have been packed in the new biodegradable active system, stored at 25 and 45°C and analyzed for peroxide value, water activity, textural parameters and microbiological loads at 0, 8, 14, 20, 27, 34 e 41 days. Both samples (sunflower oil stored at 35°C and pesto stored at 25°C) presented lower peroxide values and maintained more stable quality characteristics, in terms of colorimetric, microbiological and textural parameters when compared with the respective control samples, during storage. Obtained results highlighted the potentiality of the new active biodegradable material, to extend food products shelf-life and maintain high quality levels during storage.