Abstract:
The study examined the possibility and extent of chemical migration from traditional packaging materials (Megaphrynium macrostachyum, Musa AAB, and Theobroma cacao leaves) into maize-based solid pap (eko). Maize grains were processed into solid pap which was then packaged traditionally with the plant leaves. The chemical compounds identified in the leaves are majorly phytochemicals (flavonoid, phenol, glycoside, tannin, oxalate, phytate, alkaloid, anthraquinone and saponin). Each of the phytochemicals was observed to migrate from the individual leaf into the solid pap at both storage temperature of ambient (29±2 oC) and refrigeration (5±1 oC). Maximum phytochemical migration generally occurred at 72 hours of storage for ambient temperature (29±2 oC) while that of refrigeration temperature (5±1 oC) occurred at 120 hours of storage. The type of leaf used in the packaging also influenced the degree of phytochemical migration in the traditional food product. At 72 hours of ambient storage (29±2 oC), the phenol migration was 0.26, 0.51, and 0.12 mg/g for packaging in plantain, Megaphrynium macrostachyum and cocoa leaves, respectively. However, at refrigeration temperature (5±1 oC), the phenol migration at 72 hours was 0.89, 0.51, and 0.69 mg/g for packaging in plantain, Megaphrynium macrostachyum, and cocoa leaves, respectively. At 120 hours of refrigeration storage (5±1 oC), the degree of phenol migration in the food product increased to 2.23, 2.61, and 2.78 mg/g for packaging in the leaves, respectively. The trend of migration with respect to other phytochemicals was observed to be similar in terms of higher migration at refrigeration storage (5±1 oC) than that of ambient storage (29±2 oC). It may be concluded that the degree of phytochemical migration from the packaging materials into the traditional food products (solid pap) could be influenced by such factors as type of leaf used in the packaging, contact time, and the storage temperature.
