Sodium caseinate-based edible films incorporated with essential oils

MARTUCCI J.F.; GENDE L.; ARANGUREN M. ; RUSECKAITE R.A.

lake Balaton

Conferencia; International Conference on Biobased Polymers and Composites; 2012

The control of undesirable pathogen microorganisms in foods during storage and distribution is a very important health concern. A new trend in food preservation consists of the use of active packaging in order to enlarge the safety margin and reassure high quality products. The incorporation of essential oils (EO) to edible films as natural antimicrobial agents might be an interesting option to create antimicrobial films. Despite their effectiveness against most of the food pathogens such as L.monocytogenes, S.typhimurium, E.coli, B.cereus andL.monocytogenes, S.typhimurium, E.coli, B.cereus and S.aureus at very low levels the mechanisms of action have not been clearly identified but it seems to be related with the hydrophobic nature of the terpens [1]. Therefore, the development of EO –containing biopolymer films is a promising area in the active packaging field. The effectiveness against food pathogens of EO-added protein films has already reported, including oregano and rosemary-gelatin films [2,3]. Sodium caseinate (SC) is an attractive film- forming water-soluble protein obtained by acid precipitation of casein, the main protein in cow’s milk [4]. SC films have demonstrated to have potential in food packaging applications due to their high nutritional quality, excellent sensory, mechanical and barrier properties [3,5]. The objective of this work was to characterize and select from a set of various EO the most efficient one against Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria (S.aureus) and to examine the antimicrobial activity of EO-added SC filmsat very low levels the mechanisms of action have not been clearly identified but it seems to be related with the hydrophobic nature of the terpens [1]. Therefore, the development of EO –containing biopolymer films is a promising area in the active packaging field. The effectiveness against food pathogens of EO-added protein films has already reported, including oregano and rosemary-gelatin films [2,3]. Sodium caseinate (SC) is an attractive film- forming water-soluble protein obtained by acid precipitation of casein, the main protein in cow’s milk [4]. SC films have demonstrated to have potential in food packaging applications due to their high nutritional quality, excellent sensory, mechanical and barrier properties [3,5]. The objective of this work was to characterize and select from a set of various EO the most efficient one against Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria (S.aureus) and to examine the antimicrobial activity of EO-added SC filmsS.aureus) and to examine the antimicrobial activity of EO-added SC films