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Bioactive Packaging Materials
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Bioactive Packaging Materials

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2022) | Viewed by 10613

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Iolanda Francolini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Sapienza University of Rome, P. le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Interests: polymer characterization; structure–properties relationships; antimicrobial polymers; polyurethanes; drug delivery systems; functionalization of polymers; microbial biofilms; nanocomposites
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Antonella Piozzi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Sapienza University of Rome, P. le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Interests: polymer characterization; structure–properties relationships; antimicrobial polymers; drug delivery systems; functionalization of polymers; microbial biofilms; tissue engineering; nanocomposites
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Bioactive packaging falls within the so call smart packaging and has the unique role to either extend shelf life, monitor freshness or improve safety of special products, including foods and pharmaceuticals. Several technologies are currently under investigation to integrate packaging with target-specific sensors, like temperature indicators, microbial contamination sensors and gas-level controls, or with bioactive compounds, like antioxidants or antimicrobials, to maximize the safety and quality of products. The application of nanotechnology to this area is expected to open new possibilities for improving the performances of these types of packages. Together with the functional aspects, also sustainability issues of the packaging are a current focus of the research in this field to produce environmentally-friendly materials able to replace traditional oil-based packaging. Biopolymers, including starch and chitosan, can be considered ideal candidates for these purposes in relation to their biodegradability.

In this Special Issue, we will overview the major challenges and crucial design issues for development of bioactive packaging. We welcome articles with a strong focus on preparation and characterization of materials, both traditional and new, for packaging applications endowed with biological activity, including antimicrobial and antioxidant activity, or with specific sensors to monitor product quality and properties. Also review articles in the field are welcome.

Dr. Iolanda Francolini
Dr. Antonella Piozzi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • active packaging
  • biopolymers
  • sensors
  • sustainable packaging
  • nanomaterials
  • antimicrobial packaging
  • antioxidant packaging
  • bio-based materials
  • food packaging

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 7292 KiB  
Article
Preparation and Characterization of Gelatin-Agarose and Gelatin-Starch Blends Using Alkaline Solvent
by Oleksandra Dzeikala, Miroslawa Prochon, Anna Marzec and Szymon Szczepanik
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(2), 1473; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24021473 - 12 Jan 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2134
Abstract
Plastic waste is a serious problem in modern society. Every day, mankind produces tons of waste that must be disposed of or recycled. The most common types of plastic waste are disposable tableware, bags, packaging, bottles, and containers, and not all are recycled. [...] Read more.
Plastic waste is a serious problem in modern society. Every day, mankind produces tons of waste that must be disposed of or recycled. The most common types of plastic waste are disposable tableware, bags, packaging, bottles, and containers, and not all are recycled. Therefore, there is a great interest in producing environmentally friendly disposable materials. In this study, modified gelatin blends using polysaccharides (e.g., agarose, starch) were produced to obtain a stable coating. Various techniques were used to characterize the obtained bioplastics, including FTIR spectroscopy (Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy), TGA (thermogravimetric analysis)/DSC (differential scanning calorimetry), contact angle measurements, and surface energy characterization. We also investigated the influence of thermal and microbiological degradation on the properties of the biocomposite. The addition of agarose increased the hardness of the blend by 27% compared to the control sample without added polysaccharides. Increases were also observed in the surface energy (24%), softening point (15%), and glass transition temperature (14%) compared to the control sample. The addition of starch to the biopolymer increased the softening point by 15% and the glass transition temperature by 6%. After aging, both blends showed an increase in hardness of 26% and a decrease in tensile strength of 60%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Packaging Materials)
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19 pages, 6266 KiB  
Article
Bioactive Carboxymethyl Cellulose (CMC)-Based Films Modified with Melanin and Silver Nanoparticles (AgNPs)—The Effect of the Degree of CMC Substitution on the In Situ Synthesis of AgNPs and Films’ Functional Properties
by Szymon Macieja, Bartosz Środa, Beata Zielińska, Swarup Roy, Artur Bartkowiak and Łukasz Łopusiewicz
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(24), 15560; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms232415560 - 08 Dec 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2234
Abstract
Green synthesis of nanoparticles for use in food packaging or biomedical applications is attracting increasing interest. In this study, the effect of the degree of substitution (0.7, 0.9 and 1.2) of a carboxymethylcellulose polymer matrix on the synthesis and properties of silver nanoparticles [...] Read more.
Green synthesis of nanoparticles for use in food packaging or biomedical applications is attracting increasing interest. In this study, the effect of the degree of substitution (0.7, 0.9 and 1.2) of a carboxymethylcellulose polymer matrix on the synthesis and properties of silver nanoparticles using melanin as a reductant was investigated. For this purpose, the mechanical, UV–Vis barrier, crystallinity, morphology, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of the films were determined, as well as the color and changes in chemical bonds. The degree of substitution effected noticeable changes in the color of the films (the L* parameter was 2.87 ± 0.76, 5.59 ± 1.30 and 13.45 ± 1.11 for CMC 0.7 + Ag, CMC 0.9 + Ag and CMC 1.2 + Ag samples, respectively), the UV–Vis barrier properties (the transmittance at 280 nm was 4.51 ± 0.58, 7.65 ± 0.84 and 7.98 ± 0.75 for CMC 0.7 + Ag, CMC 0.9 + Ag and CMC 1.2 + Ag, respectively) or the antimicrobial properties of the films (the higher the degree of substitution, the better the antimicrobial properties of the silver nanoparticle-modified films). The differences in the properties of films with silver nanoparticles synthesized in situ might be linked to the increasing dispersion of silver nanoparticles as the degree of CMC substitution increases. Potentially, such films could be used in food packaging or biomedical applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Packaging Materials)
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11 pages, 3221 KiB  
Article
Mechanical Properties and Diffusion Studies in Wax–Cellulose Nanocomposite Packaging Material
by Chandra Mouli R. Madhuranthakam, Shannon Q. Fernandes, Antonella Piozzi and Iolanda Francolini
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(16), 9501; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23169501 - 22 Aug 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1576
Abstract
This article focuses on the study related to the estimation of packaging material properties of cellulose–wax nanocomposite using molecular dynamics simulation (MDS). Cellulose based packaging material is gaining lot of importance due to its good material properties and low cost. Cellulose with small [...] Read more.
This article focuses on the study related to the estimation of packaging material properties of cellulose–wax nanocomposite using molecular dynamics simulation (MDS). Cellulose based packaging material is gaining lot of importance due to its good material properties and low cost. Cellulose with small amount of plant-derived wax (nonacosane-10-ol and nonacosane-5,10-diol) offers higher mechanical strength and modulus of elasticity compared to the conventional synthetic polymer materials. In this article, in addition to the estimation of mechanical properties, the thermal stability of the proposed ecofriendly cellulose–wax composite is evaluated by estimating the glass transition temperature which essentially provides critical information on the glassy state and rubbery state of this biopolymer. The glass transition temperature of this composite changes significantly compared to that of pure cellulose (which also suffers from poor mechanical strength). Transport properties such as diffusion volume and diffusion coefficient of oxygen, nitrogen, and water are estimated using the results obtained from MDS. The diffusion coefficients of these species within the cellulose–wax composite are analyzed using the diffusion volume and interaction energies of these constituents with the wax and cellulose. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Packaging Materials)
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16 pages, 2800 KiB  
Article
A Cruciform Petal-like (ZIF-8) with Bactericidal Activity against Foodborne Gram-Positive Bacteria for Antibacterial Food Packaging
by Bowen Shen, Yuxian Wang, Xinlong Wang, Fatima Ezzahra Amal, Liying Zhu and Ling Jiang
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(14), 7510; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23147510 - 06 Jul 2022
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2064
Abstract
Most antibacterial nanomaterials used in food packaging act by releasing reactive oxygen species (ROS), which cannot efficiently have an inhibitory effect by penetrating the cell wall of Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus. In this work, we used the cruciform petal-like zeolite imidazole framework-8 (ZIF-8) [...] Read more.
Most antibacterial nanomaterials used in food packaging act by releasing reactive oxygen species (ROS), which cannot efficiently have an inhibitory effect by penetrating the cell wall of Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus. In this work, we used the cruciform petal-like zeolite imidazole framework-8 (ZIF-8) synthesized in the water phase which can release active Zn compounds in aqueous solution and exert a stronger inhibitory effect on S. aureus. The experimental results demonstrated that the aqueous cruciform petal-like ZIF-8 has the same photocatalytic activity as traditional ZIF-8 and can be applied in photocatalytic bacterial inactivation. The cruciform petal-like ZIF-8 was also shown to release active Zn compounds in aqueous solution with a better antibacterial effect against S. aureus, reaching 95% inactivation efficiency. The antibacterial effect was therefore 70% higher than that of traditional ZIF-8. Based on its excellent antibacterial properties, we loaded petal-like ZIF-8, PDA and PVA onto ordinary fibers to prepare ZIF-8-Film. The results further showed that ZIF-8-Film has a high filtration capacity, which can be used in antibacterial packaging material with the required air permeability. Moreover, ZIF-8-Flim can clean the surface on its own and can maintain a sterile environment. It is different from other disposable materials on the market in that it can be reused and has a self-disinfection function. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Packaging Materials)
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18 pages, 2748 KiB  
Article
Controlled Release of Volatile Antimicrobial Compounds from Mesoporous Silica Nanocarriers for Active Food Packaging Applications
by Tina Gulin-Sarfraz, Georgios N. Kalantzopoulos, John-Erik Haugen, Lars Axelsson, Hilde Raanaas Kolstad and Jawad Sarfraz
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(13), 7032; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23137032 - 24 Jun 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1775
Abstract
Essential oils and their active components have been extensively reported in the literature for their efficient antimicrobial, antioxidant and antifungal properties. However, the sensitivity of these volatile compounds towards heat, oxygen and light limits their usage in real food packaging applications. The encapsulation [...] Read more.
Essential oils and their active components have been extensively reported in the literature for their efficient antimicrobial, antioxidant and antifungal properties. However, the sensitivity of these volatile compounds towards heat, oxygen and light limits their usage in real food packaging applications. The encapsulation of these compounds into inorganic nanocarriers, such as nanoclays, has been shown to prolong the release and protect the compounds from harsh processing conditions. Nevertheless, these systems have limited shelf stability, and the release is of limited control. Thus, this study presents a mesoporous silica nanocarrier with a high surface area and well-ordered protective pore structure for loading large amounts of natural active compounds (up to 500 mg/g). The presented loaded nanocarriers are shelf-stable with a very slow initial release which levels out at 50% retention of the encapsulated compounds after 2 months. By the addition of simulated drip-loss from chicken, the release of the compounds is activated and gives an antimicrobial effect, which is demonstrated on the foodborne spoilage bacteria Brochothrixthermosphacta and the potentially pathogenic bacteria Escherichia coli. When the release of the active compounds is activated, a ≥4-log reduction in the growth of B. thermosphacta and a 2-log reduction of E. coli is obtained, after only one hour of incubation. During the same one-hour incubation period the dry nanocarriers gave a negligible inhibitory effect. By using the proposed nanocarrier system, which is activated by the food product itself, increased availability of the natural antimicrobial compounds is expected, with a subsequent controlled antimicrobial effect. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Packaging Materials)
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