Edible Films Incorporated with Active Compounds: Their Properties and Application

Abstract

Antimicrobial compounds are food additives, which play a major role to reduce food spoilage. There are three main groups of antimicrobial compounds such as chemical agent, natural extract, and probiotics. The direct incorporations of the active compounds on the surface of food may have limited benefit because they are rapidly diffused from the food surface into the food product, resulting in the limited efficacy of these compounds. Thus, incorporation of antimicrobial compounds into packaging matrix, especially biopolymer film is a promising technique to reduce contaminations and inhibit, retard, and/or kill the microorganisms. Edible films are thin layer of natural polymers used to maintain the physicochemical quality of foods and extend their shelf life. A variety of biopolymeric-based materials including polysaccharides, proteins, and lipids have been extensively used for antimicrobial packaging and can be used as a carrier of active compounds. Incorporation of antimicrobial compounds may or may not enhance the mechanical properties and water vapor permeability of biopolymer films. The applications of active films can reduce contamination through the releasing of antimicrobial compound, thus reducing the risk from pathogen, extending shelf life of the packaged foods, and providing better quality with high safety.

Antimicrobial effects of edible nano-composite based on bean pod shell gum, nano-TiO2, and Mentha pulegium essential oil

“…The antimicrobial activity of EOs is related to their major phenolic compounds, such as thymol, eugenol, carvacrol, or terpenic compounds (α-pinene, β-pinene, 1,8-cineol, menthol, and linalool). Different types of EOs with different chemical compositions have different ability to bind the membrane proteins of microbial cells, and thus have different inhibitory effects [20]. The antimicrobial efficacy of Mentha EO has been found to vary from moderate to significant often correlating with the composition of the oil.…”

Recent Developments in Smart Food Packaging Focused on Biobased and Biodegradable Polymers

“…Ascorbic, citric, lactic, tartaric, gallic, and vanillic acids have also been used as preservative agents (Coban, 2020). Sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate have a GRAS status and can inhibit the growth of bacterial and fungal cells, being the preservative effect of sorbic acid 5-10 times more resistant than that of benzoate while sodium citrate inhibits the growth of Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157:H7 (Rawdkuen, 2018;Huang et al, 2019). They had been incorporated as antimicrobial agent in biopolymers and nanocomposite films such as chitosan (Remedio et al, 2019), pullulan and gelatin (Kowalczyk et al, 2020), and corn starch/chitosan/nanoclay (Na-MMT) (Jha, 2020).…”

Bacterial Nanocellulose—A Biobased Polymer for Active and Intelligent Food Packaging Applications: Recent Advances and Developments

“…It includes the combination of a biopolymer with antimicrobial substances. Here, the favorable three-dimensional nanostructure of BNC can act as a matrix and encage biopolymers (e.g., chitosan), antimicrobial agents (e.g., enzymes, nisin), natural preservatives (e.g., plant extracts, essential oils), and inorganic or organic bacteriostatic compounds (e.g., MMT clay, silver, ZnO, TiO 2 ) without significantly compromising the primary selective barrier and mechanical properties of packaging films [ 112 ]. The effectiveness of the BNC antimicrobial film mainly depends on the choice of bacteriostatic agent, which should be selected according to the type of food packed and deteriorative microbial flora.…”

“…Organic acids (e.g., lactic, sorbic, lauric etc.) are other examples of antimicrobial compounds widely used in active packaging systems [ 112 ]. Zahan et al [ 111 ] designed biodegradable bacterial nanocellulose composites by incorporating lauric acid (LA) as a preservative.…”