Evaluation of Salmon Adhesion on PET-Metal Interface by ATR, FT-IR, and Raman Spectroscopy

The material employed in this study is an ecoefficient, environmentally friendly, chromium (VI)-free (noncarcinogenic) metal polymer. The originality of the research lies in the study of the effect of new production procedures of salmon on metal packaging with multilayer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polymer coatings. Our hypothesis states that the adhesion of postmortem salmon muscles to the PET polymer coating produces surface and structural changes that affect the functionality and limit the useful life of metal containers, compromising therefore their recycling capacity as ecomaterials. This work is focused on studying the effects of the biochemical changes of postmortem salmon on the PET coating and how muscle degradation favors adhesion to the container. The experimental design considered a series of laboratory tests of containers simulating the conditions of canned salmon, chemical and physical tests of food-contact canning to evaluate the adhesion, and characterization of changes in the multilayer PET polymer by electron microscopy, ATR, FT-IR, and Raman spectroscopy analyses. The analyses determined the effect of heat treatment of containers on the loss of freshness of canned fish and the increased adhesion to the container wall, and the limited capability of the urea treatment to remove salmon muscle from the container for recycling purposes.