Zinc oxide nanoparticle mediated modulation of antimicrobial and physico-chemical properties of essential oil containing PVA nanocomposites

Microbial infestation related food loss poses a major threat to the global food sector. Both bacterial and fungal infestations play a crucial role in the food deterioration and various health issues. This has led to the increased demand for the development of active packaging materials. In the current study, selected essential oils were subjected to MIC, MBC and MFC analysis against both bacterial and fungal agents. Further to this, PVA based bionanocomposites were developed by incorporating the selected essential oils along with ZnONPs. By the FTIR analysis, the interactions among individual components of the developed thin films could be confirmed. Interestingly, the incorporation of nanoparticles was found to have modulatory effect on the release of essential oil components from the films as evidenced by the GC-MS analysis. Further to this, the films were also demonstrated to have enhanced mechanical properties and low moisture content which favor its application as promising packaging material. The incorporation of ZnONPs was also observed to positively modulate the antibacterial and antifungal activity of the films without compromising its microbial barrier efficacy. The findings of the current study thus indicate the potential of the developed bionanocomposite films as antimicrobial packaging systems.