As discussed in last week’s blog, different antimicrobial agents have different activities against different pathogenic microorganisms due to their diverse physiologies. Research over years helps determine which agent acts best against the works of a particular microbe.
In this blog, we have consolidated extensive tabulated data on various agents. The categorization is based on their activity, integration into packaging and targeted microorganism. Additional categorization is added to detail active packaging systems and technologies and their associated applications in food preservation.
Table 1: Antimicrobial agents incorporated into food packaging systems
Table 2: Active Packaging Technologies
Table 3: Encapsulation Techniques for Antimicrobial Agents
Encapsulated compound |
Technique of encapsulation |
Application |
References |
Eugenol and carvacrol |
Microemulsion |
Enhanced antimicrobial properties |
Gaysinsky, Taylor, Davidson, Bruce, and Weiss (2007) |
Bioral™ omega-3 nanocochleates |
Polymerization in emulsion |
Effective carrier for the incorporation of highly bioavailable omega-3 fatty acids to muffins, cakes, cookies, pasta, soups, cereals, chips, and confectionary |
Miller, Lowrey, and Senjen (2008) |
Sunflower oil, tetradecane, dodecane, and perfluorohexane |
Sonochemical method |
Enhanced antimicrobial properties |
Zhou et al. (2010) |
Peptide P34 |
Thin-film hydration method |
Enhanced antimicrobial properties |
da Silva Malheiros, Sant’Anna, Micheletto, da Silveira, and Brandelli (2011) |
Lemon myrtle oil |
Nanoemulsion |
Enhanced antimicrobial properties |
Buranasuksombat, Kwon, Turner, and Bhandari (2011) |
Carvacrol, d-limonene, and cinnamaldehyde |
Emulsion, high pressure homogenization technique |
Enhanced antimicrobial properties |
Donsì, Annunziata, Sessa, and Ferrari (2011) |
Silver |
Phase transfer, in situ fabrication |
Enhanced antimicrobial properties |
George, Kuriakose, George, and Mathew (2011) |
Silver oxide |
Solution casting method |
Enhanced antimicrobial properties |
Tripathi, Mehrotra, and Dutta (2011) |
Thymol, carvacrol, limonene, and cinnamaldehyde |
Nanodispersion |
Enhanced antimicrobial activity |
Shah, Davidson, and Zhong (2012) |
Nisin Z |
Microfluidization |
Enhanced antimicrobial properties |
Imran et al. (2012) |
Thymol |
Emulsion evaporation technique |
Enhanced antimicrobial properties |
Shah, Ikeda, Davidson, and Zhong (2012) |
Lactoferrin |
Multiple nanoemulsion method |
Enhanced antimicrobial properties |
Balcão et al. (2013) |
β-carotene |
Nanoemulsification and supercritical fluids |
Natural pigments - component of the food industry |
Gutiérrez et al. (2013) |
Lysozyme |
Hydration of dried microgel, in situ encapsulation, supercritical CO2 method |
Enhanced antimicrobial properties |
Hassani et al. (2013) and Li et al. (2014) |
Cinnamaldehyde, eugenol, clove bud, and cinnamon bark extracts |
Freeze drying |
Enhanced antimicrobial properties |
Hill, Gomes, and Taylor (2013) |
Zinc oxide |
Sol-gel method, base-catalyzed hydrolysis |
Enhanced antimicrobial and mechanical properties |
De Silva, Pasbakhsh, Lee, and Kit (2015) |
Natural phytochemicals and probiotics |
Spray drying, freeze drying, coacervation, yeast-encapsulation |
Functional food |
da Silva, Barreira, and Oliveira (2016), Silva, Domingues, and Nerín (2018) |
Cinnamon essential oil |
Electrospinning |
Enhanced antimicrobial activity |
Wen et al. (2016) |
Green tea extract |
Entrapment within inorganic capsules and incorporation into melted material (extrusion method) |
Enhanced antimicrobial activity |
Wrona, Nerín, Alfonso, and Caballero (2017) |
Carvacrol |
Electrospinning |
Enhanced antimicrobial activity |
Tampau, González-Martinez, and Chiralt (2017) |
Felix O1(bacteriophages) |
Electrospinning |
Enhanced antimicrobial activity |
Costa, Milho, Teixeira, Sillankorva, and Cerqueira (2018) |
Coriander essential oil |
Inclusion-complexation |
Enhanced antimicrobial activity |
Silva, Caldera, Trotta, Nerín, and Domingues (2019) |
Cinnamon oil |
Inclusion-complexation (cyclodextrin nanosponges) |
Enhanced antimicrobial activity |
Simionato, Domingues, Nerín, and Silva (2019) |
Gallic acid |
Electrospinning |
Enhanced antimicrobial activity |
Aydogdu et al. (2019) |
Curcumin |
Electrospinning |
Enhanced antimicrobial activity |
Alehosseini, Gómez-Mascaraque, Martínez-Sanz, and López-Rubio (2019) |
Adopted from: P. Suppakul, Chapter 39 - Cinnamaldehyde and Eugenol: Use in Antimicrobial Packaging, Editor(s): Jorge Barros-Velázquez, Antimicrobial Food Packaging, Academic Press, 2016, Pages 479-490, ISBN 9780128007235, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-800723-5.00039-5.