Abstract
The effects of heat treatment and the addition of tarragon essential oil on physical and mechanical properties of films prepared with 5% whey protein isolate (WPI) and 5% glycerol were investigated in this study. Heat treatment of the film-forming solution caused increases in thickness, moisture content, swelling degree, water vapor permeability (WVP), b*-value, ΔE*-value, transmittance values in the 200–300-nm region, transparency, and puncture resistance of the film, but decreases in water solubility, L*-value, a*-value, transmittance values in the 350–800-nm region, and puncture deformation. When incorporated with tarragon essential oil, heat-treated films have the potential to be used as antimicrobial food packaging. The addition of tarragon essential oil in film-forming solution caused increases in moisture content, solubility in water, WVP, a*-value, b*-value, ΔE*-value, and transparency of the film; decreases in transmittance values in the range of 600–800 nm; and variations in swelling degree, L*-value, transmittance values in the range of 300–550 nm, puncture resistance, and puncture deformation. Nevertheless, different tendencies were noticed in UNT (untreated) and HT (heat-treated) films with regards to transparency, light transmittance, puncture resistance, and puncture deformation. Based on these findings, HT films show improved physical and mechanical properties and, therefore, are more suitable for food-packaging applications.
Highlights
IntroductionResearch has focused on the development of edible films and coatings with antimicrobial activity to control microorganisms that can cause food spoilage or food poisoning [1]
In recent years, research has focused on the development of edible films and coatings with antimicrobial activity to control microorganisms that can cause food spoilage or food poisoning [1].Edible films and coatings have many advantages such as biodegradability, edibility, bio-compatibility, aesthetic appearance, ability to resist physical stress, and barrier properties [2,3].Essential oils are among the active agents used to enhance the functionality of edible films
The current study focused on (1) the characterization of tarragon essential oil by determination of its total phenolic content, volatile constituents, antioxidant capacity, and antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis, and Listeria monocytogenes, and (2) the characterization of films by determination of their thickness, moisture content, swelling degree, solubility in water, water vapor permeability (WVP), color, light transmittance, transparency, puncture resistance (PR), and puncture deformation (PD)
Summary
Research has focused on the development of edible films and coatings with antimicrobial activity to control microorganisms that can cause food spoilage or food poisoning [1]. Essential oils are among the active agents used to enhance the functionality of edible films. It is well known essential oils possess antioxidant, antibacterial, and antifungal properties and that their chemical compounds are responsible for these [1,4,5]. Several studies have reported that essential oil of tarragon. The essential oil content in the aerial part of tarragon plants ranges between 0.15 and 3.1%
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