Enhanced liquid retention capacity within plastic food packaging through modified capillary recesses.

A novel approach is proposed to isolate meat exudate in plastic packaging trays. This exudate is responsible for limiting meat shelf life, increasing meat loss and non-recycling plastic waste. This study explores the use of specially designed capillary recesses with integrated raised rims as a means of improving liquid retention capacity in thermoformed meat trays. The presence of raised recess rims is used to enhance the valving functionality of the recesses and restrict liquid drainage during and after recess inclination. This resulted in a considerable increase in liquid retention capabilities. For pork exudate, the retention capacity of recess samples (recess diameter: 9 mm) significantly increased (p < 0.05) from 0.79 g for recesses with no rims to 2.12 g for rim-integrated recesses. The corresponding retention capacity of a recess array after introducing these rims was 2921 ± 63 mL/m2. These recesses have comparable liquid scavenging performance to absorbent meat pads (3000 mL/m2) yet are integrated within the tray material. This proves the practicality of using rim-integrated recesses in plastic meat packaging to retain exudate away and ensure fully recyclable plastic packaging. The manufacturing of these recesses is integrated into the thermoforming process for the tray body. • Rim-integrated recesses is a new technology for exudate management in PET packaging for food applications. • Developed rims considerably improve liquid pinning and restrict liquid drainage, improving retention capacity of recesses. • PET packaging film with rim-integrated recesses allow to avoid use of absorbing materials for confining exudate in packaging. • Fully recyclable PET packaging film can be achieved with rim-integrated recesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]