4TH International Congress on Technology - Engineering & SCIENCE - Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia (2017-08-05)

Physicochemical, Structural And Antibacterial Properties Of Chitosan-montmorillonite Nanocomposite Film Incorporated With Pistacia Atlantica Gum Essential Oil
Bionanocomposite films based on chitosan and montmorillonite (MMT) containing Pistacia atlantica gum essential oil (PEO) at 0.5, 1, and 2% v/v were prepared and their antimicrobial and physicochemical properties were examined. The results indicated that the pure chitosan films were transparent in appearance and their transparency was considerably reduced by an increase in PEO concentration. A decrease of the tensile strength (TS) and water solubility (WS) accompanied by an increase in elongation-at-break (EAB) and water vapor permeability (WVP) was observed for the nanocomposite films added with PEO. The structural properties and morphology of the films were examined by X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The films containing PEO also showed a higher inhibitory effect against the gram positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus), and a lower inhibitor effect against the gram negative ones (Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli). Our results suggested that PEO, as a natural antibacterial agent, has the potential to be used for developing active films.
Keywords: Nanocomposite film, Chitosan, Pistacia atlantica, Essential oil, Antimicrobial activity
Hassan Barzegar, Vahid Alizadeh, Behzad Nasehi