Characterization of Active Packaging Films Made from Poly(Lactic Acid)/Poly(Trimethylene Carbonate) Incorporated with Oregano Essential Oil

Title
Characterization of Active Packaging Films Made from Poly(Lactic Acid)/Poly(Trimethylene Carbonate) Incorporated with Oregano Essential Oil

Author 
Dong Liu †, Hongli Li †, Lin Jiang,Yongming Chuan, Minglong Yuan *  and Haiyun Chen * 

Engineering Research Center of Biopolymer Functional Materials of Yunnan, Yunnan Minzu University, Kunming 650500, Yunnan, China

† These authors contributed equally to this work.

* Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed. 

Academic Editor: Derek J. McPhee

Received: 17 March 2016 / Revised: 6 May 2016 / Accepted: 11 May 2016 / Published: 27 May 2016

(This article belongs to the Section Molecular Diversity)

Abstract 

Antimicromial and antioxidant bioactive films based on poly(lactic acid)/poly(trimenthylene carbonate) films incorporated with different concentrations of oregano essential oil (OEO) were prepared by solvent casting. The antimicrobial, antioxidant, physical, thermal, microstructural, and mechanical properties of the resulting films were examined. Scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed that the cross-section of films became rougher when OEO was incorporated into PLA/PTMC blends. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis indicated that crystallinity of PLA phase decreased by the addition of OEO, but this did not affect the thermal stability of the films. Water vapor permeability of films slightly increased with increasing concentration of OEO. However, active PLA/PTMC/OEO composite films showed adequate barrier properties for food packaging application. The antimicrobial and antioxidant capacities were significantly improved with the incorporation of OEO (p < 0.05). The results demonstrated that an optimal balance between the mechanical, barrier, thermal, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties of the films was achieved by the incorporation of 9 wt % OEO into PLA/PTMC blends.

Keywords: poly(lactic acid); poly(trimethylene carbonate); oregano essential oil; antioxidant; antimicrobial; biodegradable film; food packaging

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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