Mitigation of Biofilm Formation on Corrugated Cardboard Fresh Produce Packaging Surfaces Using a Novel Thiazolidinedione Derivative Integrated in Acrylic Emulsion Polymers.

Michael Brandwein,Gregory Mosheyev,Abed Al-Quntar,Antonio López-Gómez,Doron Steinberg,Fulgencio Marin-Iniesta,Hila Goldberg,Moshe Goffer

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2016.00159

Abstract

Various surfaces associated with the storage and packing of food are known to harbor distinct bacterial pathogens. Conspicuously absent among the plethora of studies implicating food packaging materials and machinery is the study of corrugated cardboard packaging, the worldwide medium for transporting fresh produce. In this study, we observed the microbial communities of three different store-bought fruits and vegetables, along with their analog cardboard packaging using high throughput sequencing technology. We further developed an anti-biofilm polymer meant to coat corrugated cardboard surfaces and mediate bacterial biofilm growth on said surfaces. Integration of a novel thiazolidinedione derivative into the acrylic emulsion polymers was assessed using Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (EDS) analysis and surface topography was visualized and quantified on corrugated cardboard surfaces. Biofilm growth was measured using q-PCR targeting the gene encoding 16s rRNA. Additionally, architectural structure of the biofilm was observed using SEM. The uniform integration of the thiazolidinedione derivative TZD-6 was confirmed, and it was determined via q-PCR to reduce biofilm growth by ~80% on tested surfaces. A novel and effective method for reducing microbial load and preventing contamination on food packaging is thereby proposed.

Highlights

Recent advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies has proven the existence of diverse and different bacterial communities on almost all surfaces known to man, including the human body, plants, soil, and water (Human Microbiome Project C, 2012; Kembel et al, 2014; Pinto et al, 2014; Panke-Buisse et al, 2015)
As measured by the binary Jaccard index (BJI), was used to generate a PCoA plot (Figure 1B), which shows the clustering of microbial communities associated with corrugated cardboard
This study represents a first look at the relationship between corrugated cardboard packaging and fresh produce

Summary

Introduction

Recent advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies has proven the existence of diverse and different bacterial communities on almost all surfaces known to man, including the human body, plants, soil, and water (Human Microbiome Project C, 2012; Kembel et al, 2014; Pinto et al, 2014; Panke-Buisse et al, 2015). This newfound understanding of the microbial world has shed light on the world of bacterial biofilms and food technologies, showing that different produce types harbor distinct bacterial communities and that fresh produce often serve as vehicles for the transmission of human pathogens, frequently by providing a suitable surface for biofilm growth (Berger et al, 2010; Critzer and Doyle, 2010; Leff and Fierer, 2013). To the best of our knowledge, synthetic molecules meant to mitigate biofilm growth have yet to be deployed in anti-microbial/anti-biofilm polymers

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