Preparation and characterization of carvacrol essential oil-loaded halloysite nanotubes and their application in antibacterial packaging

Carvacrol (CA), a volatile plant essential oil, can pervade the headspace of containers and has high antimicrobial efficiency when it is applied in the food packaging system. Here, CA was encapsulated into halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) to form the carvacrol-loaded halloysite nanotubes (CA-HNTs) compounds. The results show that CA was successfully encapsulated in HNTs with the highest loading efficiency of 17%. The CA-HNTs compounds possessed a significant improvement in their thermal stability and acquired a sustained release ability supported by that 33.8% of CA was released at 40 ℃ after a long 25 days of storage. On this basis, the fabricated zein films containing 8 wt% CA-HNTs presented the maximum inhibition efficiency against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus . Benefiting from the antimicrobial ability and slow-release effects, the CA-HNTs-loaded films greatly prolonged the shelf-life of cherry tomatoes. Therefore, CA-HNTs are novel and valid antimicrobial component for food packaging. • Carvacrol (CA) was encapsulated into halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) to form CA-HNTs. • CA-HNTs compounds had a good thermal stability and sustained release ability. • Zein films containing CA-HNTs presented a stronger bactericidal potency. • CA-HNTs-loaded films greatly prolonged the shelf-life of cherry tomatoes.