title: Identification of 8-nonenal as an important contributor to "plastic" off-odor in polyethylene packaging.
abstract: Food and beverage products stored in polyethylene (PE) containers may absorb some of PE's volatile minor components and become tainted by its characteristic "plastic" odor. High-density PE containers that had imparted "plastic" odor to an experimental corn chip product were analyzed by simultaneous distillation/extraction to remove the volatile components, by gas chromatography/olfactometry (GC/O) to locate the offending components and by 2-D GC/mass spectrometry (MS) to identify the major "plastic" odor contributor (8-nonenal). The identification was made using high-resolution electron ionization and chemical ionization MS data to narrow the possibilities to two isomers of nonenal, followed by retrieval of reference spectra and confirmatory synthesis. By monitoring 8-nonenal in HDPE containers and corn chips it was demonstrated that 8-nonenal tracks with "plastic" aroma observed in containers and with "plastic" flavor observed in corn chips stored in the containers.
authors.affiliation: The Procter & Gamble Company, Winton Hill Business Center, 6300 Center Hill Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45224, USA. sanders.ra@pg.com
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Sanders
authors.forename: David V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Zyzak
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Morsch
authors.forename: Steven P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Zimmerman
authors.forename: Peter M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Searles
authors.forename: Melissa A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Strothers
authors.forename: B Loye
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Eberhart
authors.forename: Amy K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Woo
mesh_terms: D000447:Aldehydes / Q000032:analysis*; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D018857:Food Packaging; D009812:Odorants / Q000032:analysis*; D010969:Plastics; D020959:Polyethylene
chemical_list: D000447:Aldehydes; D010969:Plastics; C080589:3-nonenal; D020959:Polyethylene