Essential oils as antimicrobial agents in biopolymer-based food packaging - A comprehensive review

Food packaging generates a large volume of waste materials and >90% of the waste plastics are landfilled. The growing demand for high quality and safe packaging materials have resulted in the longer shelf life of foods packed with eco-friendly materials. This needs natural base materials for packaging applications, along with active ingredients that can extend the shelf life of the food materials. One such development in the field of active packaging is antimicrobial packaging. Out of the many antimicrobial agents used, the essential oils (EO) are gaining more importance especially due to their high activity. This review aims to give an insight into the developments in active food packaging, especially with EO. Various biopolymer containing EO have been used for food packaging applications. An insight into the recent approaches used for the casting of biopolymer films with EO is given. The effect of EO on the physical properties of the biopolymer films, the migration and release of the active agents on to the food surface, and the mechanism of action have been highlighted. The challenges and opportunities of EO for the food packaging industry have been discussed.