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Development of innovative materials used in food
packaging applications. This activity is focused on the study and development of
oxygen scavenger films, antimicrobial films and edible coatings, used to slow
down those phenomena responsible for the quality decay of packaged foodstuffs.
As far as oxygen scavenger and antimicrobial films are concerned, the research
activities are focused on the development of packaging materials in which the
active substances are embedded into the polymeric materials and then released
from the polymeric materials into the packaged foodstuffs. The developed
innovative polymeric materials are characterized with regards to: their
effectiveness in prolonging the shelf-life of packaged foodstuffs (tests on
food-simulant and on foodstuff are performed), their mechanical properties,
their processability and their suitability as food-contact material.
Transport properties in polymeric materials. This activity concerns the study on
diffusivity, solubility and permeability of low molecular weight compounds
through polymeric materials. These studies are mainly focused on the
determination of the correlation between polymer physico-chemical properties and
their transport properties. The acquired know-how were used to develop
mathematical models needed to design new packaging systems. In fact, by knowing
the correlations between structure and properties, it is possible to design new
materials optimizing both synthesis and process conditions. |
