Development of oxygen scavenging system containing a natural free radical scavenger and a transition metal

A natural free radical scavenger, alpha-tocopherol, and a transition metal in an oxygen scavenging system were evaluated as a possible oxygen scavenger. The effects of alpha-tocopherol, transition metal, moisture, and thermal processing on oxygen scavenging capability were investigated. An initial, cup headspace oxygen content (%) of 20.9% was decreased to 18.0% after thermal processing and 60 days of storage at room temperature when the oxygen scavenging system containing alpha-tocopherol (500 mg) and transition metal (100 mg) was utilised. alpha-Tocopherol and a transition metal were required for optimum oxygen scavenging capability, otherwise the oxygen scavenging capability decreased. The oxygen content (%) decreased further to 17.1% when the amount of transition metal increased from 100 to 150 mg. In this research, alpha-tocopherol (500 mg) and transition metal (150 mg) had an oxygen scavenging capacity of 6.72 ml O-2/g and an oxygen scavenging rate of 0.11 ml O-2/g.day. Results indicated that alpha-tocopherol and transition metal in oxygen scavenging system coupled with thermal processing can be used as an effective oxygen scavenger. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.