J Food Process Preserv. 2019;e13937. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jfpp | 1 of 11 https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpp.13937 © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 1 | INTRODUCTION One of the major challenges in food preservation is to reduce the ac‐ celeration of deterioration rate of lipid which mainly occurs in food with a high content of unsaturated lipid. The oxidation of lipids leads to the growth of microorganisms and the formation of toxic alde‐ hydes (Ganiari, Choulitoudi, & Oreopoulou, 2017) and affects the ap‐ pearance, flavor, and nutritional quality of the product. Commonly, several procedures have been applied to prevent the oxidative dete‐ rioration in foodstuffs such as the direct addition of antioxidant into the food product (Serrano‐León et al., 2018) or the use of modified atmosphere packaging technology (Sánchez‐Escalante, Torrescano, Djenane, Beltrán, & Roncalés, 2003). The current approach imple‐ mented in the food industries to prevent the oxidative deterioration in food is using synthetic antioxidant such as butylated hydroxy‐ anisole, butylated hydroxytoluene, and ter‐butylhydroquinone that Received: 16 October 2018 | Revised: 25 February 2019 | Accepted: 9 March 2019 DOI: 10.1111/jfpp.13937 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Semi‐refined carrageenan film incorporated with α‐tocopherol: Application in food model Khadijah Husna Abd Hamid 1 | Wan Amnin Wan Yahaya 1 | Nur ‘Alia Zaini Mohd Saupy 1 | María Pilar Almajano 2 | Nurul Aini Mohd Azman 1 1 Faculty of Chemical & Natural Resources Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Kuantan, Malaysia 2 Department of Chemical Engineering, Technical University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain Correspondence Nurul Aini Mohd Azman, Faculty of Chemical & Natural Resources Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Lebuhraya Tun Razak, 26300 Gambang, Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia. Email: ainiazman@ump.edu.my Funding information Universiti Malaysia Pahang Short‐term Grant, Grant/Award Number: RDU 160381 Abstract Semi‐refined carrageenan (SRC) film plasticized with glycerol and incorporated with α‐tocopherol was prepared for food packaging application. Functional characteriza‐ tion, thermal stability, and microstructure of SRC‐based films were analyzed. The effects of antioxidant α‐tocopherol from SRC‐based film were studied based on thio‐ barbituric acid‐reactive substance assay, metmyoglobin assay, and pH value in food model (meat patties) for 12 days of storage. The development of lipid oxidation was delayed in the meat patties wrapped with antioxidant films during the storage with the final value of 0.68–0.37 mg malondialdehyde/kg sample. A less than 50% brown color development (metmyoglobin) of the meat patties wrapped with antioxidant film was observed in the first nine days of storage. Hence, the incorporation of α‐tocoph‐ erol into the SRC‐based film could be an alternative way to prolong the shelf life of food product, reducing the use of synthetic preservative directly into food product. Practical applications Recent strategy on the development of biodegradable film for food packaging is im‐ portant as an alternative to the petrochemical‐derived plastic that is harmful to the environment. SRC is one of the potential biopolymers that has the ability to form a strong gel and provides efficient barrier against gas, lipids, and oils, and addition of plasticizer glycerol into SRC enhanced mechanical and barrier properties of the films. The present study showed the potential of α‐tocopherol within the SRC film plasti‐ cized with glycerol as active packaging on the film characteristics and increased the shelf life of meat patties. Hence, the active packaging film developed is not only contributes to reduce plastic waste discharged to environment but can be a potential substitute of synthetic preservative in food.