Development of Alginate Based Edible Antifungal Film Containing Turmeric Essential Oil and Its Various Characterization

Abstract

An antifungal alginate films incorporated with turmeric oil was developed. Turmeric oil at different concentrations (0.1, 0.3 and 0.5%) was added to the matrix of 1.5% of sodium alginate, 0.243g of glycerol per gram of alginate, 0.03g of calcium carbonate and 5.4g of glucono-delta lactone per gram of calcium carbonate. Film with no turmeric oil was used as control. The physical (thickness and color), mechanical properties (tensile strength and elongation at break), barrier properties (oxygen and water vapor permeability), chemical property (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, FTIR) and antifungal activity of the film were evaluated. The effects of these films were studied against various important fungi i.e. Fusarium sp., Penicillium sp. and Aspergillus sp. isolated from banana. Vapor assay method was used to measure the mycelium growth. Incorporation of essential oil had an effect on various parameters of the film. With the increasing turmeric oil concentrations, thickness of the film significantly (p 0.05) increased, while total color change decreased. No significant (p > 0.05) differences were observed in tensile strength, modulus and elongation. Turmeric oil significantly (p 0.05) increased the oxygen permeability and water vapor permeability of the film as compared to the control. New peak of C-C bond on the FTIR analysis in each level of turmeric oil suggested the presence of antifungal agent. The inhibition of mycelium growth of Fusarium sp., Penicillium sp. and Aspergillus sp. were 26.36, 51.81 and 73.63%, 0.0, 9.25 and 28.70% and 0.32, 0.3 and 32.68% at 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5% of turmeric oil, respectively. In conclusion, incorporation of natural extract of the turmeric oil into alginate edible film has a great potential to inhibit the microbial growth and may be used for postharvest control of fruits.