Abstract
The aims of this study were to evaluate, (1) the antibacterial properties, (2) the total phenol content and (3) the antioxidant activity, of chitosan edible films incorporated with certified organic essential oils (EOs) obtained from Thymus zygis, Thymus mastichina, Thymus capitatus and Thymus vulgaris. The agar disc diffusion method was used to determine the antibacterial activities of chitosan edible films while for the antioxidant activity, two different analytical assays were used (DPPH and FRAP). As regard antibacterial activity, films containing only chitosan were not effective against any of tested bacteria. Chitosan films containing T. capitatus EO (CH + TCEO) was more effective against Listeria innocua and Alcaligenes faecalis whilst chitosan films containing T. mastichina EO (CH + TMEO) had the highest inhibition halos against Serratia marcescens. For and Enterobacter amnigenus no antibacterial activity was achieved. Chitosan films added with Thymus essential oils showed antioxidant activity, at all concentrations and with all methods assayed. CH + TZEO had the highest antioxidant activity revealed with DPPH assay. However in CH + TCEO showed best antioxidant effect when assessed with FRAP assay. The results showed that chitosan edible films incorporated with organic Thymus EOs could be used as active films in food industry due to its antibacterial and antioxidant activities.
References
Ballester-Costa C, Sendra E, Fernández-López J, Pérez-Álvarez JA, Viuda-Martos M (2013) Chemical composition and in vitro antibacterial properties of essential oils of four Thymus species from organic growth. Ind Crops Prod 50:304–311
Bonilla J, Atarés L, Vargas M, Chiralt A (2012) Edible films and coatings to prevent the detrimental effect of oxygen on food quality: possibilities and limitations. J Food Eng 110:208–213
Burt S (2004) Essential oils: their antibacterial properties and potential applications in foods—a review. Int J Food Microbiol 94:223–253
Burt SA, Reinders RD (2003) Antibacterial activity of selected plant essential oils against Escherichia coli O157:H7. Lett Appl Microbiol 36:162–167
Gaysinsky S, Davidson PM, Bruce BD, Weiss J (2005) Growth inhibition of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes by carvacrol and eugenol encapsulated in surfactant micelles. J Food Prot 68:2559–2566
Gómez-Estaca J, López de Lacey A, López-Caballero ME, Gómez-Guillén MC, Montero P (2010) Biodegradable gelatin-chitosan films incorporated with essential oils as antimicrobial agents for fish preservation. Food Microbiol 27:889–896
Hosseini MH, Razavi SH, Mousavi SMA, Yasaghi SASY, Hasansaraei AG (2008) Improving antibacterial activity of edible films based on chitosan by ıncorporating thyme and clove essential oils and EDTA. J Appl Sci 8:2895–2900
Liyana-Pathirana CM, Shahidi F (2006) Antioxidant properties of commercial soft and hard winter wheats (Triticum aestivum L.) and their milling fractions. J Sci Food Agric 86:477–485
Moradi M, Tajik H, Rohani SM, Oromiehie AR, Malekinejad H, Aliakbarlu J, Hadian M (2012) Characterization of antioxidant chitosan film incorporated with Zataria multiflora Boiss essential oil and grape seed extract. LWT-Food Sci Technol 46:477–484
Ojagh SM, Rezaei M, Razavi SH, Hosseini SMH (2010) Development and evaluation of a novel biodegradable film made from chitosan and cinnamon essential oil with low affinity toward water. Food Chem 122:161–166
Oyaizu M (1986) Studies on products of browning reaction: antioxidative activity of products of browning reaction prepared from glucosamine. Jpn J Nutr 44:307–315
Rhim J, Ng P (2007) Natural biopolymer-based nanocomposite films for packaging applications. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 47:411–433
Ruiz-Navajas Y, Viuda-Martos M, Sendra E, Perez-Alvarez JA, Fernández-López J (2013) In vitro antibacterial and antioxidant properties of chitosan edible films incorporated with Thymus moroderi or Thymus piperella essential oils. Food Control 30:386–392
Sánchez-González L, González-Martínez C, Chiralt A, Cháfer M (2010) Physical and antimicrobial properties of chitosan-tea tree essential oil composite films. J Food Eng 98:443–452
Singleton VL, Rossi JA (1965) Colorimetry of total phenolics with phosphomolybdic phosphotungstic acid reagents. Am J Enol Vit 16:144–158
Siripatrawan U, Harte BR (2010) Physical properties and antioxidant activity of an active film from chitosan incorporated with green tea extract. Food Hydrocoll 24:770–775
Tepe B, Sokmen M, Sokmen A, Daferera D, Polissiou M (2005) Antimicrobial and antioxidative activity of essential oil and various extracts of Cyclotrichium origanifolium (Labill.) Manden. & Scheng. J Food Eng 69:335–342
Tharanathan RN, Kittur F (2003) Chitin-The undisputed biomolecule of great potential. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 43:61–87
Viuda-Martos M, Ruiz-Navajas Y, Sánchez-Zapata E, Fernández-López J, Pérez-Álvarez JA (2010) Antioxidant activity of essential oils of five spice plants widely used in a Mediterranean diet. Flavour Fragr J 25:13–19
Viuda-Martos M, Mohamady MA, Fernández-López J, Abd ElRazik KA, Omer EA, Pérez-Álvarez JA, Sendra E (2011) In vitro antioxidant and antibacterial activities of essential oils obtained from Egyptian aromatic plants. Food Control 22:1715–1722
Wang L, Liu F, Jiang Y, Chai Z, Li P, Cheng Y, Jing H, Leng X (2011) Synergistic antimicrobial activities of natural essential oils with chitosan films. J Agric Food Chem 59:12411–12419
Wang L, Chen C, Su A, Zhang Y, Yuan J, Ju X (2016) Structural characterization of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of the phenolic-rich fraction from defatted adlay (Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf) seed meal. Food Chem 196:509–517
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ballester-Costa, C., Sendra, E., Fernández-López, J. et al. Evaluation of the antibacterial and antioxidant activities of chitosan edible films incorporated with organic essential oils obtained from four Thymus species. J Food Sci Technol 53, 3374–3379 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-016-2312-y
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-016-2312-y