Antimicrobial active packaging combining essential oils mixture: Migration and odor control study

• Published in: Polymers for advanced technologies 2019-10, Vol.30 (10), p.2558-2566
• Main Authors: Moshe Dvir, Itan, Weizman, Orli, Lewitus, Dan, Weintraub, Sagiv, Ophir, Amos, Dotan, Ana
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antiinfectives and antibacterials; antimicrobial packaging films; Binary mixtures; Citral; E coli; Essential oils; essential oils mixtures; Food packaging; headspace release; migration; Odor control; Odors; Polyamide resins; polymer blend; Polymer blends; Polymer films; sensory properties; Thymol
• ISSN: 1042-7147; 1099-1581
• DOI: 10.1002/pat.4642

Thymol is an essential oil (EO), known to have excellent antimicrobial (AM) properties and can potentially be used as an active agent in AM food packages. Mixing Thymol with other EOs may help to reduce the organoleptic impact of its strong odor. In the present study, the effect of thymol, carvacrol, citral, and eugenol binary mixtures on the AM activity, migration over time, and sensory properties of polypropylene (PP)/polyamide (PA)/nanoclays composite blends active package (AP) films was examined. The release of different EOs from the polymer film was found to have a direct correlation with the odor perception of thymol. Varied EOs bearing films have shown different capacity to inhibit bacterial growth over time (Escherichia coli). Lastly, the inhibition of fungal growth on food sample using EO‐loaded films was obtained for over 50 days, indicating the potential use of the developed films as active food packaging.