Preparation and Characterization of Antimicrobial Films Based on Chitosan for Active Food Packaging Applications

The aim of this paper was to characterize chitosan samples from the shrimp shells for the later development of antimicrobial active systems. These systems include 100 % chitosan-based films obtained by casting, polyamide films with 5 and 10 % of chitosan obtained by extrusion and polyethylene/polyethylene terephthalate films with a coating of 0.6 % of chitosan. For that purpose, several analytical techniques including IR, 1H NMR, GPC, and microscopic techniques (scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy) were used. Within the studied samples, C1 showed the lowest DA and MW and consequently presented the most suitable properties for the development of an active packaging. Additionally, mechanical properties were performed. The effectiveness of the developed systems was evaluated by means of microbiological assays. The tested films showed antimicrobial capacity against coliform enterobacteria, mesophilic aerobic microorganism, and yeast and moulds.This work was funded under Project no. 95935 from FONCICYT C002-2008-1/ALA 127 249. The authors are grateful to “Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad” for the Predoctoral fellowship FPI (Ref. BES-2012-051993) awarded to Miguel Ángel Lago. Raquel Sendón is grateful to the “Parga Pondal” program financed by Consellería de Innovación e Industria, Xunta de Galicia” for her postdoctoral contract