Antimicrobial and Antioxidants Capacities: Application in Food Packaging

A special issue of Antioxidants (ISSN 2076-3921). This special issue belongs to the section "Extraction and Industrial Applications of Antioxidants".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 September 2024) | Viewed by 3814

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Polymer Engineering Department, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Interests: biopolymers; polymer processing; reactive extrusion; active packaging; biological properties

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Polymer Engineering Department, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Interests: biopolymers; polymer processing; reactive extrusion; active packaging; biological properties

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Guest Editor Assistant
Polymer Engineering Department, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Interests: biopolymers; polymer processing; reactive extrusion; active packaging; biological properties

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Food spoilage caused by microorganisms’ activity is the most established cause of food degradation, making food unsafe for consumption and increasing food waste. The food packaging paradigm has changed, particularly in consumer demands, and, together with ecological concerns, researchers have been challenged to develop sustainable materials with an added value function.

The development of packaging with antimicrobial and antioxidant properties is a promising way to actively control both bacterial and fungal proliferation and oxidation that leads to food spoilage, resulting in an increase in shelf life. Methods of producing packaging with antimicrobial activity range from adding sachets with volatile antimicrobial agents up to the incorporation of active agents directly into the polymer matrix or coating/grafting antimicrobial substances onto the packaging surface. Active compounds with biological capacities can be obtained from many different sources, either natural or synthetic.

Knowing that antimicrobial and antioxidant packaging remains a very important and challenging product technology, this Special Issue is open to contributions of original research articles and high-quality review articles related to the use of antioxidants and antimicrobial agents in food packaging. These include, but are not limited to, the following research topics:

  • Polymers and biopolymers processing.
  • Synthesis or extraction of antioxidant and antimicrobial agents.
  • Coating or encapsulation of antioxidant and antimicrobial agents.
  • Cytotoxicity of matrix polymer/active agents.
  • Antioxidant and antimicrobial films from natural and synthetic sources.
  • Technological approaches on the evaluation of active food packaging systems.
  • Production processes of active packaging through green chemistry approaches.
  • Packing polymers as protecting barriers.

Dr. M. Cidalia R. Castro
Dr. Ana Vera A. MacHado
Guest Editors

Dr. Pedro V. Rodrigues
Guest Editor Assistant

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Keywords

  • active packaging
  • antimicrobial properties
  • antioxidant properties
  • (bio)polymers processing
  • coating/encapsulation of active agents
  • shelf-life

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 3938 KiB  
Article
Shelf Life of Minced Pork in Vacuum-Adsorbed Carvacrol@Natural Zeolite Nanohybrids and Poly-Lactic Acid/Triethyl Citrate/Carvacrol@Natural Zeolite Self-Healable Active Packaging Films
by Vassilios K. Karabagias, Aris E. Giannakas, Nikolaos D. Andritsos, Areti A. Leontiou, Dimitrios Moschovas, Andreas Karydis-Messinis, Apostolos Avgeropoulos, Nikolaos E. Zafeiropoulos, Charalampos Proestos and Constantinos E. Salmas
Antioxidants 2024, 13(7), 776; https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox13070776 - 27 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1165
Abstract
Enhancing food preservation and safety using environmentally friendly techniques is urgently needed. The aim of this study was to develop food packaging films using biodegradable poly-L-lactic acid (PLA) as biopolymer and carvacrol (CV) essential oil as an antioxidant/antibacterial agent for the replacement of [...] Read more.
Enhancing food preservation and safety using environmentally friendly techniques is urgently needed. The aim of this study was to develop food packaging films using biodegradable poly-L-lactic acid (PLA) as biopolymer and carvacrol (CV) essential oil as an antioxidant/antibacterial agent for the replacement of chemical additives. CV was adsorbed onto natural zeolite (NZ) via a new vacuum adsorption method. The novel nanohybrid CV@NZ with a high CV content contained 61.7%wt. CV. Pure NZ and the CV@NZ nanohybrid were successfully dispersed in a PLA/triethyl citrate (TEC) matrix via a melt extrusion process to obtain PLA/TEC/xCV@NZ and PLA/TEC/xNZ nanocomposite films with 5, 10, and 15%wt CV@NZ or pure NZ content. The optimum resulting film PLA/TEC/10CV@NZ contained 10%wt. CV@NZ and exhibited self-healable properties, 22% higher tensile strength, 40% higher elongation at break, 45% higher water barrier, and 40% higher oxygen barrier than the pure PLA/TEC matrix. This film also had a high CV release content, high CV control release rate as well as 2.15 mg/L half maximal effective concentration (EC50) and 0.27 mm and 0.16 mm inhibition zones against Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella enterica ssp. enterica serovar Typhimurium, respectively. This film not only succeeded in extending the shelf life of fresh minced pork, as shown by the total viable count measurements in four days but also prevented the lipid oxidation of fresh minced pork and provided higher nutritional values of the minced meat, as revealed by the heme iron content determination. It also had much better and acceptable sensory characteristics than the commercial packaging paper. Full article
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13 pages, 944 KiB  
Article
Development of Coated PLA Films Containing a Commercial Olive Leaf Extract for the Food Packaging Sector
by Cecilia Fiorentini, Giulia Leni, Elena Díaz de Apodaca, Laura Fernández-de-Castro, Gabriele Rocchetti, Claudia Cortimiglia, Giorgia Spigno and Andrea Bassani
Antioxidants 2024, 13(5), 519; https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox13050519 - 26 Apr 2024
Viewed by 1104
Abstract
A commercial olive leaf extract (OL), effective against Salmonella enterica, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus, was added to three different coating formulations (methylcellulose, MC; chitosan, CT; and alginate, ALG) to produce active polylactic acid (PLA) coated films. [...] Read more.
A commercial olive leaf extract (OL), effective against Salmonella enterica, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus, was added to three different coating formulations (methylcellulose, MC; chitosan, CT; and alginate, ALG) to produce active polylactic acid (PLA) coated films. Evaluation of these coated PLA films revealed significant inhibition of S. aureus growth, particularly with the MC and CT formulations exhibiting the highest inhibition rates (99.7%). The coated films were then tested for food contact compatibility with three food simulants (A: 10% ethanol; B: 3% acetic acid; D2: olive oil), selected to assess their suitability for pre-cut hams and ready-to-eat vegetables in relation to overall migration. However, coated films with active functions exhibited migration values in simulants A and B above legal limits, while promising results were obtained for simulant D2, highlighting the need to deeply investigate these coatings’ impact on a real food system. Untargeted metabolomics revealed that the type of coating influenced the selective release of certain phenolic classes based on the food simulant tested. The Oxitest analysis of simulant D2 demonstrated that the MC and ALG-coated PLA films slightly slowed down the oxidation of this food simulant, which is an edible vegetable oil. Full article
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13 pages, 1198 KiB  
Article
UV Radiation and Protein Hydrolysates in Bio-Based Films: Impacts on Properties and Italian Salami Preservation
by Viviane Patrícia Romani, Paola Chaves Martins, Meritaine da Rocha, Maria Carolina Salum Bulhosa, Felipe Kessler and Vilásia Guimarães Martins
Antioxidants 2024, 13(5), 517; https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox13050517 - 26 Apr 2024
Viewed by 1017
Abstract
UV radiation was combined with the incorporation of fish protein hydrolysates to improve the performance of active bio-based films for food packaging. UV radiation was not used previously to enhance the packaging performance of blend films of starch/protein, and fish protein hydrolysates were [...] Read more.
UV radiation was combined with the incorporation of fish protein hydrolysates to improve the performance of active bio-based films for food packaging. UV radiation was not used previously to enhance the packaging performance of blend films of starch/protein, and fish protein hydrolysates were not incorporated in bio-based polymer surfaces previously. Rice starch and fish proteins (from Whitemouth croaker muscle) were utilized to prepare films by the casting technique, which were UV-radiated under different exposure times (1, 5, and 10 min). The packaging performance of the films was determined according to the mechanical and barrier performance, solubility, and color. Fish protein hydrolysates (from Argentine croaker muscle) were then incorporated into the films (bulk structure or surface). The results showed that UV radiation for 1 min increased the tensile strength and modified the optical properties of films. It also altered the structure of the polymeric matrix, as demonstrated by the microstructure and thermal analysis, in agreement with the data obtained in packaging properties. The evaluation of antioxidant capacity through 2,2-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) and reducing power indicated that incorporating fish protein hydrolysates either in the films’ bulk structure or film surface promoted antioxidant properties; control films (produced with rice starch/fish proteins without hydrolysates) also presented antioxidant potential. According to the peroxide value and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) assays, control films and the films containing hydrolysates in their bulk structure or on the surface could prevent the lipid oxidation of Italian salami. Thus, combining UV radiation to shape the characteristics of bio-based materials with fish protein hydrolysates to reduce lipid oxidation contributes to the performance of active bio-based films for food packaging. Full article
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