Electrospray Ionization-Mass Spectrometry Analysis Reveals Migration of Cyclic Lactide Oligomers from Polylactide Packaging in Contact with Ethanolic Food Simulant

Electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry analysis revealed rapid migration of cyclic oligomers from polylactide (PLA) packaging when stored in contact with 96% ethanol. The mass losses in contact with water, 3% acetic acid, 10% ethanol and isooctane were 3 to 5 times smaller and no migration of cyclic oligomers was observed. The presence of cyclic oligomers in the original PLA films and their solubility in ethanol, thus, explains the rapid mass loss for PLA in contact with ethanolic food simulant. On prolonged ageing no further mass loss was observed in 96% ethanol, whereas mass loss in aqueous food simulants increased because of hydrolysis of PLA matrix or the cyclic oligomers to water-soluble linear products. The mass losses were generally somewhat smaller for the stereocomplex material compared with the poly-l-lactide materials. Similar trend was observed for solvent uptakes, which is easily explained by the higher degree of crystallinity and stronger secondary interactions in the stereocomplex material. The use of ethanol as a fatty food simulant for PLA materials could, thus, lead to overestimation of the overall migration values. Copyright (C) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.