Oregano essential oil-doped citric acid modified polyvinyl alcohol bio-active films: Properties, bio-functional performance and active packaging application of chicken breast

In the present study, a vapor antimicrobial bio-packaging system was designed utilizing polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) as the substrate incorporating citric acid (CA) and oregano essential oil (OEO) as cross-linking and active component, respectively. When CA and OEO were incorporated into PVOH film, the drop in TS along with the improvements in EB, water resistance performance, barrier ability and thermostability were observed. Analysis of FTIR and XPS disclosed that the esterification could occur between PVOH and CA. The vapor antimicrobial assay proved that PVOH/CA/OEO films could increase the membrane permeability of test bacteria by altering the secondary and tertiary construction of membrane protein, and display an excellent antibacterial activity on E. coli and S. aureus by vapor diffusion. Finally, chicken breasts with bio-active films had better quality and the shelf-life was extended, which indicated its promising prospects for the use in preservation.