Abstract

This study aimed to develop a new antimicrobial food packaging from low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film containing the natural extract. In this regard, onion and potato peel extract were obtained using the ultrasound-assisted method. The polyethylene film surface was exposed to atmospheric plasma treatment to improve the wettability properties and subsequently increase the attachment of the extract on the film surface. Results showed significant changes in surface hydrophilicity; the contact angle reduced from 89° to 42° after 45 s treatment (350 W). The 10 and 20 concentrations of extracts were coated on the plasma-treated film's surface, separately and in their combinations, by immersing the film into the extract solutions. The absorption and release rate of the film samples containing potato peel extract (PPE) was considerably higher than the other samples. However, the film containing onion peel extract (OPE) showed the highest phenolic content and antioxidant activity. The antibacterial activity of film samples demonstrated the significantly higher antibacterial activity of OPE than PPE. Results introduced the plasma-treated film containing 20 OPE as the most effective antimicrobial film used for packaging chicken thighs. The chicken thigh samples packaged by antimicrobial film showed a lower value of thiobarbituric acid (0.09 mg MDA/kg sample), total volatile nitrogen (14.27 mg/100 g), and total viable count (4.05 log CFU/g) compared to the control sample (pristine film) during 6 days’ storage period. Our results suggest that plasma-treated film containing 20 OPE has potential application as a functional food packaging film in food antimicrobial packaging. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd