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Engineering Properties of Polymeric-Based Antimicrobial Films for Food Packaging: A Review

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Abstract

The concept of antimicrobial packaging has received great attention because of its potential to enhance food safety. Several studies have explored its applications and effectiveness to suppress pathogenic microorganisms. However, few studies have analyzed the alterations caused in the engineering properties of food-packaging polymers after the incorporation of antimicrobials. Such information is very important to understand the feasibility of producing antimicrobial packaging films on the industrial scale. This review explores the work done so far to evaluate how the incorporation of antimicrobial substances affects the properties of food-packaging systems. This article also emphasizes diffusion studies on antimicrobial substances through packaging films and the analytical solutions used to characterize this diffusion mechanism. Our review found that although the properties of packaging materials are altered by the addition of antimicrobials such as organic acids, enzymes, and bacteriocins, every packaging material is unique, and these effects cannot be generalized.

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Abbreviations

EVA:

Ethylene-vinyl acetate

EVOH:

Ethylene-vinyl alcohol

HDPE:

High-density polyethylene

LDPE:

Low-density polyethylene

PA:

Polyamide (nylon)

PBAT:

Poly(butylenes adipate-co-terephthalate)

PE:

Polyethylene

PET:

Polyethylene terephthalate

PLA:

Poly(lactic acid)

PP:

Polypropylene

PS:

Polystyrene

PVC:

Poly(vinyl chloride)

PVDC:

Poly(vinylidene chloride)

PVOH:

Poly(vinyl alcohol)

SEM:

Scanning electron microscopy

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Acknowledgments

This activity was funded in part by the Food Security USDA Special Research Grant # 2008-34477-09142 and Grant # 2009-34477-20304.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biological Systems Engineering Department, Washington State University, P.O. Box 646120, Pullman, WA, 99164-6120, USA

    Luis Bastarrachea, Sumeet Dhawan & Shyam S. Sablani

Authors
  1. Luis Bastarrachea
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  2. Sumeet Dhawan
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  3. Shyam S. Sablani
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Correspondence to Shyam S. Sablani.

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Bastarrachea, L., Dhawan, S. & Sablani, S.S. Engineering Properties of Polymeric-Based Antimicrobial Films for Food Packaging: A Review. Food Eng Rev 3, 79–93 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12393-011-9034-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12393-011-9034-8

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