Coffee-cocoa additives for bio-based antioxidant packaging

Coffee and cocoa antioxidant capacity is well known, and besides its health benefits, great acceptance and availability; there is few information about their utilization, especially simultaneously, as antioxidant packaging additives. The antioxidant capacity of a coffee-cocoa-cassava starch polymer was evaluated in-vitro (through DPPH scavenging %, flavonoid and total phenolic content) and in-vivo (by packaging palm oil and monitoring its oxidation during a 45-days storage at 63%RH/30 °C). In-vivo investigations indicated a protective effect up to 6.09 times against peroxide index increase, up to 60.4 times against hexanal production, and up to 6.88 times against conjugated dienoic acid production, compared to a commercial polymer. Simultaneous utilization of the additives presented a synergistic antioxidant effect. Additives negatively affected films mechanical properties and homogeneity, but presented a decreased water vapor permeability and dark pigmentation that could help avoiding the catalytic oxidationn effect of water and light.