The biopolymer films are made from cassava and a gelatin coating containing antimicrobials Nisin Z and lauric arginate. They were shown to prevent the growth of vibrio, which occurs in marine environments, and salmonella, which can grow on seafood during processing.
“Given the recent outbreaks that we have seen with a number of food products, coming up with something that can be used by the industry to kill microorganisms on the surfaces of food is a noble area of research to investigate,” Catherine Cutter, professor of food science at the University tells Penn State News.
Cutter’s team tested the films on tiger prawn and snapper. “If you just dip shrimp into any antimicrobial—it’s not going to stick very well,” Cutter added. “But if you put the antimicrobial into an edible film, and then dip the shrimp into the film and pull it out, that film is going to form around the shrimp. The film then releases the antimicrobials over time.” Controlled release of the antimicrobials using the film provided “maximum kill.”
The team’s findings will be published in an upcoming issue of International Journal of Food Microbiology.