Nanoclay and Polystyrene Type Efficiency on the Development of Polystyrene/Montmorillonite/Oregano Oil Antioxidant Active Packaging Nanocomposite Films

Over the years, there has been an effort to extend food shelf life so as to reduce global food waste. The use of natural biodegradable materials in production procedures is more and more adopted nowadays in order to achieve cyclic economy targets and improve environmental and human health indexes. A...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Aris E. Giannakas, Constantinos E. Salmas, Andreas Karydis-Messinis, Dimitrios Moschovas, Eleni Kollia, Vasiliki Tsigkou, Charalampos Proestos, Apostolos Avgeropoulos, Nikolaos E. Zafeiropoulos
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-10-01
Series:Applied Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/20/9364
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Summary:Over the years, there has been an effort to extend food shelf life so as to reduce global food waste. The use of natural biodegradable materials in production procedures is more and more adopted nowadays in order to achieve cyclic economy targets and improve environmental and human health indexes. Active packaging is the latest trend for food preservation. In this work, polystyrene was mixed with natural NaMt, OrgNaMt montmorillonite, and oregano essential oil to develop a new packaging film. Strength, oxygen and water-vapour permeation, blending and homogeneity, and antimicrobial and antioxidant activity were measured as basic parameters for food packaging films characterization. Instruments such as a tensile measurement instrument, XRD, FTIR, DMA, OPA (Oxygen Permeation Analyzer), and other handmade devices were used. Results showed that polystyrene could be modified, improved, and exhibits food odour prevention characteristics in order to be used for applications on food active packaging. The material with the code name PS5OO@OrgMt qualified between the tested samples as the most promising material for food active packaging applications.
ISSN:2076-3417