Abstract:Starch ester films were prepared using solvent-casting method, with triacetin as a plasticizer. Changes in surface plasticizer content and total plasticizer content after immersion of the films in different food simulants were analyzed by performing attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. Different swelling effects on the starch-based films were found by using the food simulant system due to different affinities between the food simulants and materials used for preparing the starch-based film materials and the plasticizer resulting in different degrees of plasticizer migration. Food simulants with higher affinity toward the materials used for preparing the starch-based films exerted a rapid swelling effect on the external and internal regions of the films and resulted in higher dissolution of the plasticizer, thus increasing its migration. The difference in the migration of surface plasticizer and overall plasticizer suggested that the swelling effect of the solvents occurred from the external the film to the internal the film, and the plasticizer also migrated from the external film to the internal film. These results suggested that safe application of this novel starch-based packaging material could be achieved by modifying its structure to actively inhibit the migration of plasticizers.
