PriMera Scientific Surgical Research and Practice (ISSN: 2836-0028)

Research Article

Volume 6 Issue 2

Reducing Aluminum Toxicity in Food Packaging Using Bio-Polymer

Neeta Shiva Kumar*, Dhivyapriya R and Spoorthi BR

July 30, 2025

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Abstract

In the era of the modern food industry, food packaging has attracted much interest because it helps to protect food from environmental factors and in maintain its the integrity. Aluminum, widely used as containers, foils and pouches in packaging of hot foods, snacks and beverages. Many studies have shown that Aluminum content is increased in brains of patients with Parkinson’s (PD) and Alzheimer’s diseases (AD). It has been suspected that leaching of Aluminum from the food packaging is one of the main reasons. Hence in this work, a biopolymer barrier tested for its ability to reduce Aluminum leaching into food.

Chitosan, a biopolymer, that is non-toxic and biodegradable has film forming and antimicrobial properties can be used as a barrier to prevent the leaching of aluminum into food. Hot rice (approximately. 60°C) was used as a sample for the experiment. Hot rice was wrapped in aluminum foil and chitosan coated aluminum foil for 90 minutes. Aluminum content was detected using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) for only rice; rice in aluminum foil and rice in chitosan coated aluminum foil and found to be 2.81ppm, 3.29 ppm and 2.87 ppm respectively. The results obtained implied that chitosan acts as a barrier suggesting that chitosan coated aluminum foil can be used to reduce the leaching of aluminum to food and hence minimise the adverse effects of aluminum intake on the body.

Keywords: Food packaging; Aluminum leaching; Aluminum toxicity; Chitosan biopolymer; ICP-OES

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