Understanding the effect of plastic food packaging materials on food flavor: A critical review

Food flavor is a vital contributor to food quality, while the food packaging material is one of important factors affecting its flavor. Currently, plastic packaging materials are widely used for food packaging (such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), etc.), thus understanding the odor properties of plastic packaging materials and providing effective approaches to reduce the adverse effects are essential for manufacturers, which will be helpful to maintaining high quality and consumer acceptability of food flavor. This review will provide a comprehensive summary of the odors, sources, analytical techniques, food impacts and reduction approaches of food plastic packaging materials. The finding from 185 odor compounds in plastic food packaging indicates that aldehydes and ketones volatile compounds are the main sources of plastic odors. These compounds predominantly originate from plastic additives and can be released due to high temperatures and irradiation. Indeed, due to the low content of volatile compounds in plastics, the effective screening of odor compounds requires the integration of multiple extraction and evaluation methods, combined with high-resolution analytical techniques. In addition, the interaction between packaging materials and food can change food flavor. Therefore, this review emphasizes the factors influencing the retention, adsorption, and migration effects of packaging materials on food flavor, and suggests effective strategies to mitigate the adverse impact of packaging materials on food.