CHARACTERIZATION OF AN ANTIMICROBIAL FILM SURFACE ACTIVATED WITH LACTOCIN 705

BLANCO MASSANI MARIANA; EISENBERG PATRICIA; LLORET PAULINA; MOINA CARLOS; YBARRA GABRIEL; VIGNOLO GRACIELA

LIMA. PERÚ

Congreso; XI SIMPOSIO LATINOAMERICANO Y IX CONGRESO IBEROAMERICANO DE POLÍMEROS; 2008

Sociedad latinoamericana de polímeros

In food industry microbial contamination reduces the shelf-life and increases the risk of food borne illness. In the last decade there has been a growing interest in the development of biopreservation strategies. Active materials can provide additional functions to food packaging with respect to the traditional passive ones, which only protect the packaged food against external deteriorative factors. Many lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are used to preserve a variety of foods by producing antimicrobial metabolites including organic acids and bacteriocins. These ribosomal synthesized antimicrobial peptides are typically cationic, hydrophobic and are active against closely related bacteria. The development of antimicrobial films by the inclusion of bacteriocins is well known. Lactocin 705, a bacteriocin produced by Lactobacillus curvatus CRL705, of meat origin had been characterized in CERELA and was found to be active against Brochothrix thermosphacta, a meat contaminant. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a powerful technique that can provide direct spatial mapping of surface morphology with nanometer resolution, allowing investigations on surface topography. The aim of this work was to study the surface of a linear low density polyethylene LLDPE activated film by using AFM and contact angle determination. Although activity of lactocin 705 activated LLDPE surface appeared uniform, AFM studies showed an irregular distribution of this bacteriocin on the films surface. Activation of the LLDPE film did not change its hydrophobicity, as evidence by contact angle measurement.