Sorption of Flavor Compounds by Low Density Polyethylene Film

The interactions of aldehydes, methyl ketones, methyl esters, sulfur compounds and alkylpyrazines with low density polyethylene (LDPE) were investigated. LDPE film, suspended on a stainless steel support, was immersed in simulated milk ultrafiltrate containing a flavor compound. After shaking the glass bottles containing the solutions and film samples for 24 hr at room temperature (24 ± 2°C), the flavor compound was extracted from both the LDPE samples and the SMUF, and quantitated using gas chromatography. The sorption was: aldehydes (C 7 ‐C 10 ) 11% to 63%, methyl ketones (C 7 ‐C 10 ) 1.5% to 43.0%, methyl esters (C 7 ‐C 9 ) 6.0% to 42.0%, and sulfur compounds 8.5% to 21%. Insignificant levels of alkylpyrazines were sorbed. For all flavor compound classes, as carbon chain length increased, the quantity of sorbed flavor compounds increased.