Use of entrapped microorganisms as biological oxygen scavengers in food packaging applications

In this work a new method is proposed to produce oxygen-scavenger films using aerobic microorganisms as the "active compound". The manufacturing cycle of the investigated oxygen-scavenger film was optimized both to prolong the microorganisms viability during storage and to improve the efficiency of the film to remove oxygen from the package headspace. It was found that it is possible to store the desiccated film over a period of 20 days without monitoring any appreciable decrease of microorganism viability. It was also pointed out that the highest respiratory efficiency of the proposed active film is obtained by entrapping the microorganisms into polyvinyl alcohol, and by using the active film as a coating for a high humidity food. (C) 2003 Swiss Society of Food Science and Technology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.