Abstract
Recently, many scientists and polymer engineers have been working on eco-friendly materials for starch-based food packaging purposes, which are based on biopolymers, due to the health and environmental issues caused by the non-biodegradable food packaging. However, to maintain food freshness and quality, it is necessary to choose the correct materials and packaging technologies. On the other hand, the starch-based film’s biggest flaws are high permeability to water vapor transfer and the ease of spoilage by bacteria and fungi. One of the several possibilities that are being extensively studied is the incorporation of essential oils (EOs) into the packaging material. The EOs used in food packaging films actively prevent inhibition of bacteria and fungi and have a positive effect on food storage. This work intended to present their mechanical and barrier properties, as well as the antimicrobial activity of anti-microbacterial agent reinforced starch composites for extending product shelf life. A better inhibition of zone of antimicrobial activity was observed with higher content of essential oil. Besides that, the mechanical properties of starch-based polymer was slightly decreased for tensile strength as the increasing of essential oil while elongation at break was increased. The increasing of essential oil would cause the reduction of the cohesion forces of polymer chain, creating heterogeneous matrix and subsequently lowering the tensile strength and increasing the elongation (E%) of the films. The present review demonstrated that the use of essential oil represents an interesting alternative for the production of active packaging and for the development of eco-friendly technologies.
Highlights
Food packaging can prevent food damage [1,2,3,4,5,6]
Helal et al [59], the results showed that the essential oils (EOs) from Origanum vulgare showed the lowest minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.025 mg/mL for Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes if compared with Mentha cervina (0.05 mg/mL) and Ocimum basilicum (1.6 mg/mL)
It can be observed that the incorporation of lemon, lemon grass and tea tree essential oil within starch-based films are very effective against E. coli, S. aureus and A. niger, respectively
Summary
Food packaging can prevent food damage [1,2,3,4,5,6]. It is essential to select the proper materials and packaging techniques to retain food quality and freshness [7,8,9]. This review paper highlighted the antimicrobial effect of starch-based biopolymer incorporated with essential oil. 2. Starch-Based Polymer Film Incorporated with Antimicrobial Plant Essential Oils. The control films, exceeded the limit of 48 h as compared to meatballs, packed in cassava starch film integrated with cinnamon oil and nanoclay at ambient temperature that substantially inhibited microbial growth in foods up to 96 h below the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) limit (106 CFU/g). Silveira et al [61] studied the development of active cassava starch incorporated with natural antimicrobial tea tree essential oil based on the physical, structural, and antimicrobial properties of the film. Cinnamon essential oil contains about 85% cinnamaldehyde, it can react with enzymes and proteins as well as the membrane phospholipid bilayer by penetrating the membrane of microorganisms, which causes disruption of microbial and enzyme systems or interferes with the function of genetic materials [62]
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