Determination of flavor compounds sorbed by packaging materials using the purge and trap method

• Flavor sorption by packaging materials was measured using the P&T-GC–MS method. • Higher sorption with strong correlation compared with the solvent method. • P&T demonstrated high linearity, precision, and accuracy. • Greener method: Eco-Scale 90 and AGREE score 0.70. • Applicable to PET, CPP, LLDPE films and multilayer pouches. Flavor sorption in food packaging, known as flavor scalping, is a common problem that has a significant impact on the quality of the contents. Flavor sorption by packaging materials is generally measured using the liquid extraction method, which is very time-consuming, laborious, and uses organic solvents. In this study, we investigated the use of the purge and trap (P&T) method to measure flavor sorption by plastic packaging materials. Twenty-one representative flavor compounds were sorbed from model flavor aqueous solutions by polyethylene terephthalate films, linear low-density polyethylene films, cast polypropylene films, and multilayer pouches. The measurement conditions were optimized for each packaging material, and the same samples were also analyzed using a conventional solvent extraction method. The sorption values obtained from the P&T method were higher than those obtained using solvent extraction for all samples, and a high correlation was observed between the respective measured values of the two methods. The measurement process for the P&T method was complete within one hour and required a sample size of only a few cm 2 . The method demonstrated excellent linearity, high accuracy, precision, and sensitivity. In addition, environmental greenness assessment yielded favorable scores, with an Analytical Eco-Scale value of 90 and an AGREE score of 0.70. Overall, these findings, indicate that the P&T method is a simple, rapid, and efficient alternative for the determination of sorbed flavor compounds in food packaging materials.