Polylactic acid as a promising sustainable plastic packaging for edible oils

The influence of renewable packaging materials on the oxidative stability of sunflower oil was investigated to evaluate whether they could be used as alternatives to conventional plastics. Two renewable bottle materials, polylactic acid (PLA) and bio-polyethylene (Green-PE) were compared to conventional plastics consisting of virgin and recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET, r-PET) and regular polyethylene (PE), in a storage study over a period of 56 days. The results showed that the progress of lipid oxidation in PLA was similar to PET and rPET until day 28, while it was significantly increased in PE and Green-PE. Benzene was detected as the only migration compound in the oil stored in PET and r-PET, with concentrations of 0.153 +/- 0.027 mu g/g and 0.187 +/- 0.024 mu g/g after 56 days of storage. The study concluded that PLA could be used as an alternative packaging material for edible oils to replace PET.

Automated summary

The study investigated the influence of renewable packaging materials on the oxidative stability of sunflower oil to evaluate their potential as alternatives to conventional plastics. Two renewable bottle materials, polylactic acid (PLA) and bio-polyethylene (Green-PE), were compared to conventional plastics, including virgin and recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET, r-PET) and regular polyethylene (PE), in a 56-day storage study. The results showed that PLA had similar lipid oxidation progress as PET and rPET until day 28, while PE and Green-PE significantly increased oxidation. Benzene was the only migration compound detected in the oil stored in PET and r-PET, with concentrations of 0.153 +/- 0.027 μg/g and 0.187 +/- 0.024 μg/g after 56 days of storage. The study concluded that PLA could be used as an alternative packaging material for edible oils to replace PET.