Research uses tomato peel to produce antioxidant packaging

At the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), several laboratories of different courses have sought new packaging options in renewable sources, the target of several researches in the Packaging Laboratory of the Department of Food Science (DCA).
For Professor Soraia Vilela Borges, in the future packaging should be the "active and intelligent blends or composites", that is, packaging that brings with it various functions and materials with antimicrobial properties and thermal resistance, for example.
The research with packaging in the DCA aims to meet the demands of meat products, milk derivatives and fruits, considered more perishable foods. "These products require more expensive, waterproof conventional packaging; so, if we put a film containing free or encapsulated substances, a sachet inside the packaging that has antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, for example, it is possible to reduce the cost of that packaging that goes over and increase the shelf life of that product, also ensuring its nutritional security", explains Soraia.
Professor Marali Vilela Dias, who coordinates the laboratory with Soraia, points out that the studies also use nanotechnology. "The incorporation of these nanoparticles helps to reinforce these materials, improving their properties and also collaborating to make these packages more efficient in their active or intelligent functions."
One of the researches currently developed at DCA with the support of the Research Support Foundation of the State of Minas Gerais - FAPEMIG, develops a package that uses tomato peel to make the packaging antioxidant. "The objective of this work is the reuse of tomato peel, which is a residue of the production of tomato sauces to obtain a biodegradable and antioxidant film.
The tomato peel was added to cassava starch and the packages were obtained by the extrusion process", explains phD student Laura Fonseca.
The tomato peel is rich in lycopene, a powerful antioxidant responsible for the reddish coloring of the tomato. "In the initial tests, we observed that the film with the tomato peel obtained a very good antioxidant action and now we will apply this packaging in chestnuts."
The chestnuts have problems with lipid oxidation, which causes the deterioration of the properties of the food (causing the so-called rancid).
According to Laura, the next step in the research is to test the packaging on the nuts, to check the storage time and antioxidant action of the tomato peel.