Effects of high hydrostatic pressure on cellulose acetate film incorporated or not with oregano essential oil
Hurdle technology, active packaging, non-thermal process, functional properties, food safety
Cellulose acetate (CA) films were evaluated for potential functional alterations caused by the incorporation of oregano essential oil (EO) and / or hydrostatic high pressure (HHP) treatment (200, 300 and 400 MPa for 5 and 10 min., each). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), mechanical and optical analyzes were performed. For CA films, the incorporation of EO (CAEO) caused a reduction in tensile strength (TS), young (YM) modulus, glass transition temperature (Tg) and relative crystallinity (CR), as well as causing changes in its morphology, optical properties and increased elongation at break (EB). The application of HHP to CA and CAEO films caused TS and YM reduction, increase of Tg, CR and EB, as well as morphological and optical changes. From the pressure-time binomial, the different pressures were more significant to determine the changes present in the HHP-treated films. The results also indicated that the changes caused by HHP in the CAEO films were mild when compared to the CA films. Thus, the film containing the EO is better to withstand the HHP conditions explored in this study, which is industrially desirable. Thus, the CAEO film, which, in turn, has antimicrobial properties, could potentially be used as a technology associated with HHP for food preservation.