Evaluation of New Antimicrobial Materials Incorporating Ethyl Lauroyl Arginate or Silver into Different Matrices, and Their Safety in Use as Potential Packaging

Abstract

A big challenge for today’s industry is antimicrobial preservation and the safety of food. An effective solution to this problem can be a modern invention such as antimicrobial packaging. In the presented research the antimicrobial activity of two new active films incorporating silver, as IONPURE IPL, and ethyl lauroyl arginate (LAE) were evaluated, by employing a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) matrix and a biofilm material, respectively. Additionally, LAE was also incorporated into polystyrene (PS) pads by two different methods: by spraying and by immersion of the PS pads into an aqueous LAE solution. LDPE films containing silver did not show any antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli and Aspergillus flavus, whereas the biofilm containing LAE reduced the growth of Salmonella enterica but did not inhibit Aspergillus flavus. The active PS pads, both sprayed and immersed in LAE solution, also showed antimicrobial activity, causing a reduction of 99.99% of Pseudomonas putida growth. Thermal treatment at 180 °C for 6 and 15 min did not modify the antimicrobial activity of LAE against Salmonella enterica. Moreover, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis was performed to check the migration of silver from developed material intended for food packaging applications into food simulant.

Ethyl lauroyl arginate: An update on the antimicrobial potential and application in the food systems: a review

“…Data from the literature indicate that LAE has been utilized to prepare active antimicrobial food packaging materials. Generally, LAE is incorporated into petroleum-based polymers (such as polyethylene and ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymers; Muriel-Galet et al, 2015;Manso et al, 2021) and biopolymers such as poly-γglutamic acid (Gamarra-Montes et al, 2018), polylactic acid, chitosan, pullulan, starch, and zein (Table 5). According to previous studies, LAE-incorporated food packaging materials exhibit excellent antimicrobial activity.…”

Development of pH-Indicative and Antimicrobial Films Based on Polyvinyl Alcohol/Starch Incorporated with Ethyl Lauroyl Arginate and Mulberry Anthocyanin for Active Packaging

“…Given this, it is likely that mulberry anthocyanin possessed a good UV absorption effect, and the agglomeration of anthocyanins hindered the passage of light in the blend films [37]. Moreover, LAC films exhibited an even stronger barrier effect than AC films, which could be ascribed to LAE also inhibiting the light transmittance [22]. Furthermore, an increased film thickness can also decrease the light transmittance [43].…”

“…Via in vitro experiments, Becerril et al [19] indicated a strong antibacterial effect of LAE against Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus. Furthermore, LAE can be rapidly metabolized into lauric acid and arginine after being absorbed by the human body [20][21][22]. LAE has been authorized as a food preservative by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) [23].…”

Sunlight induced synthesis of silver nanoparticles on cellulose for the preparation of antimicrobial textiles

“…The well-known antimicrobial [1,2] and antiviral [3,4] properties of silver have been widely exploited in the preparation of medical materials through the formation of silver films onto: implants [5,6], drug delivery systems [7], antibacterial coatings for biomedical devices [8,9] and antimicrobial packaging materials [10,11]. Silver use is not restricted to medical items by has also found applications in numerous household items: curtains, napkins, bandages, bactericidal inserts in various appliances (refrigerators, fans, air conditioners) and clothes (socks, soles, etc.)…”