Properties and antioxidant action of actives cassava starch films incorporated with green tea and palm oil extracts.

There is an interest in the development of an antioxidant packaging fully biodegradable to increase the shelf life of food products. An active film from cassava starch bio-based, incorporated with aqueous green tea extract and oil palm colorant was developed packaging. The effects of additives on the film properties were determined by measuring mechanical, barrier and thermal properties using a response surface methodology design experiment. The bio-based films were used to pack butter (maintained for 45 days) under accelerated oxidation conditions. The antioxidant action of the active films was evaluated by analyzing the peroxide index, total carotenoids, and total polyphenol. The same analysis also evaluated unpacked butter, packed in films without additives and butter packed in LDPE films, as controls. The results suggested that incorporation of the antioxidants extracts tensile strength and water vapor barrier properties (15 times lower) compared to control without additives. A lower peroxide index (231.57%), which was significantly different from that of the control (p<0.05), was detected in products packed in film formulations containing average concentration of green tea extracts and high concentration of colorant. However, it was found that the high content of polyphenols in green tea extract can be acted as a pro-oxidant agent, which suggests that the use of high concentration should be avoided as additives for films. These results support the applicability of a green tea extract and oil palm carotenoics colorant in starch films totally biodegradable and the use of these materials in active packaging of the fatty products.