ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Food Sci. Technol.
Sec. Food Packaging and Preservation
Volume 5 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frfst.2025.1620402
This article is part of the Research TopicEnhancing Food Safety and Shelf Life with Advanced Smart Packaging SolutionsView all articles
Degradation Study of Extended-Shelf-Life Pasteurized Milk Packaging Under Different Aging Conditions
Provisionally accepted
Carlos Alberto Pinheiro Pena1
Marcia Cristina Branciforti1,2,3*- 1University of Sao Paulo, São Carlos, Brazil
- 2Department of Materials Engineering, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil
- 3University of Sao Paulo, Sao Carlos, Brazil
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This study investigates the degradation behavior of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) rigid packaging with and without an antibacterial additive composed of silver nanoparticles (Ag) supported on silica-ceramic base. The objective was to evaluate the influence of the additive on packaging properties and degradation under soil burial, natural environmental aging, and accelerated aging conditions. The additive, already known to extend the shelf life of pasteurized milk from 7 to 15 days, showed no effect on the mechanical properties, such as Young's modulus (E), maximum tensile stress (σm), and elongation at break (ɛb), or thermal stability of HDPE in the initial state. No significant degradation occurred under soil burial within the evaluated period. However, susceptibility to degradation was observed after 10 months of natural aging and 12 days of accelerated aging, mainly though reductions in tensile strength and elongation at break. Under natural aging, samples containing the antibacterial additive showed greater loss in deformation at break (99.8 %) then neat HDPE (96.0 %). Thermal analysis confirmed the deterioration of HDPE after exposure to degradation tests, but the presence of Ag nanoparticles partially preserved polymer stability against UV radiation. These findings indicate that while the antibacterial additive does not hinder HDPE performance during use, it influences its long-term degradation profile, with implications for both product functionality and environmental persistence.
Keywords: High-density polyethylene, silver nanoparticles, shelf life, pasteurized milk, soil burialdegradation, natural environmental aging, accelerated aging
Received: 29 Apr 2025; Accepted: 17 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Pena and Branciforti. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Marcia Cristina Branciforti, marciacb@sc.usp.br
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