Antimicrobial Activity of Lignin and Lignin-Derived Cellulose and Chitosan Composites against Selected Pathogenic and Spoilage Microorganisms

The antiradical and antimicrobial activity of lignin and lignin-based films are both of great interest for applications such as food packaging additives. The polyphenolic structure of lignin in addition to the presence of O-containing functional groups is potentially responsible for these activities. This study used DPPH assays to discuss the antiradical activity of HPMC/lignin and HPMC/lignin/chitosan films. The scavenging activity (SA) of both binary (HPMC/lignin) and ternary (HPMC/lignin/chitosan) systems was affected by the percentage of the added lignin: the 5% addition showed the highest activity and the 30% addition had the lowest. Both scavenging activity and antimicrobial activity are dependent on the biomass source showing the following trend: organosolv of softwood > kraft of softwood > organosolv of grass. Testing the antimicrobial activities of lignins and lignin-containing films showed high antimicrobial activities against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria at 35 °C and at low temperatures (0–7 °C). Purification of kraft lignin has a negative effect on the antimicrobial activity while storage has positive effect. The lignin release in the produced films affected the activity positively and the chitosan addition enhances the activity even more for both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Testing the films against spoilage bacteria that grow at low temperatures revealed the activity of the 30% addition on HPMC/L1 film against both B. thermosphacta and P. fluorescens while L5 was active only against B. thermosphacta. In HPMC/lignin/chitosan films, the 5% addition exhibited activity against both B. thermosphacta and P. fluorescens.