Sesame Oil Oxidation Control by Active and Smart Packaging System Using Wheat Gluten/Chlorophyll Film to Increase Shelf Life and Detecting Expiration Date

In this study, a smart biodegradable film based on wheat gluten modified with chlorophyll (WG/Ch) is presented. The effect of chlorophyll on the antioxidant activity and mechanical properties of WG/Ch film is studied. Scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analyses are used to study the structure and chemical composition of gluten-based films. The WG/Ch film is used in the packaging of sesame oil. The effect of WG/Ch film on increasing the shelf life and detecting expiration time of oil is studied. FT-IR results show that weak interactions are created between gluten and chlorophyll. The antioxidant activity of the WG film is 60% and it increases to 85% by the addition of chlorophyll. The results show that with the increasing storage time of oil samples, oxidative indices are increased, but the WG/Ch film decreases the sesame oil oxidation significantly (almost in the all oxidative indices 50% decrease is observed). Practical Applications: The WG/Ch film is used in the packaging of sesame oil. The effect of WG/Ch film on the increasing of shelf life and detecting expiration time of oil is studied. By increasing storage time and oxidant, acidity, acid number, PA, and oil color change are increased, but the WG/Ch active film decreases the sesame oil oxidation significantly. Also, by examining the color properties of the active film, it is observed that with increasing storage time and oxidant percent, the color of the film is changed (from green to yellow), which can be used to estimate the oil expiration time. It should be mentioned that the film's color changes are visible to the naked eye.