• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.157-163
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• 2022

The demands for Home Meal Replacement (HMR) products are continuously increasing owing to the convenience of instant food and online food delivery. Ready-to-heat (RTH) products have received massive attention in the HMR industry because these products can be easily warmed using a microwave oven. However, the conventional microwave packaging should be opened before microwave heating to prevent bursting or food loss owing to the steam-pressure build-up inside the package. Open packaging might lead to non-uniform food heating and cross-contamination. Therefore, packaging materials that are able to release steam without opening are of interest to the HMR industry. In this study, polylactic acid(PLA)/polyethylene glycol(PEG)/nanoclay composite films were manufactured using an extrusion method as packaging materials with a smart steam-releasing function. The introduction of PEG to the PLA imparted a steam self-releasing feature to the composite films owing to the morphology change of composite films during microwave heating. Further, PEG increased the ductility of PLA, which in turn prevented bursting caused due to the steam-pressure build-up. The uniform dispersion of nanoclay obtained by a twin-screw extrusion led to stronger mechanical properties. Therefore, the smart composite films developed here can be applied as microwave packaging materials with a self-releasing function.