Morphological, physico‐mechanical, and antimicrobial properties of sodium alginate‐montmorillonite nanocomposite films incorporated with marjoram essential oil

Combined effect of montmorillonite nanoclay (MMT) (3%w/w) and\ua0Origanum majorana\ua0essential oil (MO) (0.5, 1.0, and 1.5%v/v) on microstructural (SEM, TEM, and XRD), water sensitivity, barrier, mechanical, thermal, and antibacterial properties of sodium alginate (SA) was studied. Results showed that, addition of both MMT and MO reduced water solubility of SA film up to 47% while MO increased water vapor permeability of SA/MMT films. MO improved surface hydrophobicity of SA/MMT film but tensile strength tend to decrease when both MMT and MO (≥ 1%v/v) were added into film formulation. The nanocomposite film inhibited the growth of\ua0Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus,\ua0and Staphylococcus aureus\ua0at 1.5% MO concentration confirming the functionality of the films. Finally, combined application of MMT and MO could provide a tool for developing an active SA film with minimized side effects caused by the hydrophobic nature of the essential oil