In order to better understand and optimize the sorption of limonin (the major navel orange juice bitter principle) by various plasticized polymeric films, a sorption and plasticizer migration study was carried out using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography (GC). Low molecular weight (LMW) poly (vinyl chloride) (PVC) plasticized with dioctyl adipate (DOA) gave the best results for both limonin sorption and low DOA migration. Thick films did not significantly sorb more limonin than thin films in the timeframe of our experiments, as the absorption involved rapid surface sorption followed by slow bulk diffusion. The debittering efficiency was a 1000-fold greater than that obtained with current polystyrene divinylbenzene resin beads, with potential for industrial scale debittering.
