The role of health food packaging materials

Health food Because the various functional ingredients or symbolic components of health food are susceptible to air, temperature, humidity, light, microbes and other factors during the storage process, various complicated physical, chemical or biochemical changes occur. Affect the quality of health food and safety of use, so the use of appropriate packaging materials and advanced packaging technology are closely related to the quality of health food. The main role of health food packaging is to protect the quality of health food, prevent health food ingredients or signs Deterioration of sexual components.

Protecting the functional ingredients or signature ingredients of health foods

All health foods, regardless of their dosage forms, are generally susceptible to oxidation and contamination with air. They are easily decomposed and discolored when exposed to light, and are easily deliquescent when exposed to moisture. They are volatile, soften, melt, and crack when exposed to heat, causing severe distortion due to intense vibration. Problems such as fragmentation occur. Changes in the physical properties or chemical properties of health food products will invalidate the functional ingredients or the iconic ingredients. They will not only fail to play a role in health care but will in some cases cause illness. Moreover, most health food products have a shelf life of about two to three years, and in such a long period of time, through the micro-holes of the container walls (such as polyethylene, polypropylene, etc.) or the gap between the container and the lid (the seal is not solid Or deformation) Into the gas, water will lead to deterioration of health food. During the warranty period, the manufacturer is responsible for the problems in the preservation of health foods. Therefore, the protection function is very important for manufacturers and consumers. Health food packaging, regardless of the design, structure and decoration design, or material selection, should consider the protection function as the primary factor, and protect the function in various aspects (such as shockproof, cold, heat, radiation protection). , insect repellent, etc.), again sealed, that is, completely isolated from the outside world is the most important.

Barrier effect

The packaging should be such that the pharmaceutical ingredients in the container cannot penetrate or escape. The outside air, light, moisture, heat, foreign matter, microorganisms, etc., must not enter the container and come in contact with the medicine. The stability and efficacy of many health food products change with the gases, light, heat, moisture, etc. that enter or escape their packaging containers. Such as tablets, granules and other solid preparations due to moisture absorption and mold deterioration; oral liquids and other liquid health food due to temperature, light, air, microorganisms and fermentation ... .... Barriers should be highlighted in the following aspects:

(1) Anti-penetration: Volatile effect ingredients or symbolic components can be dissolved on the inside of the packaging material and diffused and moved to the other side by the action of osmotic pressure. That is, volatility diffuses out of the intermolecular walls of the container. From the outside of the package, smells of medicine can be clearly smelled. In particular, packaging such as paper and polyethylene single-layer plastic films has obvious air permeability, light transmission, and moisture permeability. Not only the aromatic components of drugs escape from the wall, but also gases (such as O2, CO2), water vapor, etc. Can enter the container directly through the packaging material, affecting the stability of the health food. Such as thyme oil, it has a strong corrosion effect on the packaging materials of general organic materials, penetrability is more obvious, in the hard capsule shell made of gelatin penetrated out in less than two weeks. In order to prevent the occurrence of penetrating phenomenon, the small permeability material should be selected as a single package for the drug when selecting the packaging material. In this regard, various composite film containers, glass containers, metal containers, and ceramic containers are effective.

(2) Anti-leakage: Volatile or non-volatile components of health foods, solid or liquid drug escapes or leaks through discontinuities or packaging materials, such as pinholes, cracks in the material, or gaps between the lid and the container. . This situation is mostly caused by the structural design of the packaging container and improper packaging process, and of course sometimes due to improper choice of materials.

(3) shading: vitamin E and other functional ingredients in the case of exposure to light and oxidative deterioration, coated pills, tablets (especially yellow lemon coloring) due to light and darker colors. For the packaging of such health foods, shading is required in addition to sealing. The shading of health food packaging often uses three methods: 1 The traditional use of brown bottles or bottles of various things wrapped in paper; 2 new materials with aluminum plastic film, aluminum, paper plastic composite film; 3 add sunscreen in the packaging material, Such as titanium dioxide and the like.

3. Buffering effect

In the process of transportation and storage of health foods, it is subject to vibration, impact, and squeezing by various external forces, which can easily cause damage. Such as glass bottle packaging easy to break; film, paper bag and the like packaging and easy to pressure deformation. For this reason, health food packaging should have a cushioning effect to prevent shocks, impacts and crushing.

(1) The function of the gasket: The gasket is used inside and outside of a single package, which is an important part of the sealing device and is an advantageous measure for preventing vibration. Pills, tablets and other solid drugs, often filled with sterile cotton, paper strips or plastic covered plastic spring coils in the excess space inside the container, so that the drug does not move the empty space after the bottle is full. The outside of a single package (ie, the container) is often made of corrugated or hard plastic to form a corrugated trough, and each container is fixed and separated. At present, there are also new materials: foamed polyethylene, foamed polypropylene and polyethylene and polystyrene copolymer resin foams and other cushioning materials as buffer packaging, and the effect is good.

(2) Outer packaging, also known as distribution packaging, is a large container made of a material with a certain mechanical strength, which is shock-proof, pressure-resistant, and closed.

International transport packaging: In addition to the general requirements, the following items should also be tested for complete and fully loaded transport packaging:

1 mark the location and firmness of the package; 2 adjust the temperature, humidity; 3 stacking test; 4 vertical collision test by dropping; 5 horizontal collision test, slope test, swing test, etc.

4. Others

The surface of the packaging material does not have any effect on the long-term contact with the health food, and no function can be produced between the release product and the health food, the functional component of the release of the health food or the symbolic component and the packaging material.

In addition, various degradation additives such as plasticizers, lubricants, release agents, stabilizers, antioxidants, antistatic agents, pigments, etc. are contained in packaging materials such as degradation products of plastics, paints, plastics, and rubbers. ) If the gradual release during the storage process will contaminate the health food, it must be carefully considered.