MICROBIOLOGICAL, SENSORY AND TOXICOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF PAPERBOARDS

The quality of board products containing recycled fibre was compared w ith that of corresponding products made from primary fibre. The board samples were analysed for microbiological purity, the effect of storag e on organoleptic properties (odour/taste) was investigated, and the t oxicological properties of the boards were studied by means of biotest s. Board samples containing recycled fibre were found to have more mic robes than those made of primary fibre. Boards containing recycled fib re impaired the flavour (taste) of the chocolate used as test food. Al though, in general, flavour impairment was only slight, it was statist ically significant for many of the samples. Primary fibre boards did n ot produce any significant flavour impairment. Storage had a beneficia l effect on the odour of the beard samples. According to the test perf ormed in this work, high microbe contents did not lead to a deteriorat ion during storage, instead, the odour scores either fell or remained almost unchanged. Some of the primary fibre and recycled fibre boards were toxic according to the luminescent bacteria test. Some of the boa rd samples were also found to be definitely mutagenic in the AMES test .