Source: Link Testing Instruments co.,ltd
Among the many kinds of plant essential oils, clove essential oil, rosemary essential oil, grape seed essential oil, garlic oil, cumin seed oil, grass fruit oil, cinnamon oil, and patchouli oil all have different degrees of antibacterial effect. For example, clove essential oil inhibits Gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Shigella sonnei, and Gram-positive bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria, and Bacillus cereus. The diameter of the bacterial circle is above 20mm, and the antibacterial effect is remarkable.
Plant essential oils are used in antibacterial packaging systems. Essential oils are added to polymer substrates such as EVOH, PVA, LDPE, etc., with the help of the micropores of the substrate and the volatility of essential oils to make essential oil molecules with antibacterial effects. Diffuses to the surface of the membrane material, and then comes into contact with the contents to function. In practical applications, the most important thing is whether the addition of essential oils will affect the normal physical properties of the original base material, otherwise, the packaging system will face the potential risk of failure in quality. For further verification, Link Testing tested the tensile strength of the LDPE film before and after adding clove essential oil for comparison and analysis.
| No. | essential oil percentage (%) | Tensile Strength(MPA) |
| 1 | 0 | 16.82 |
| 2 | 3 | 19.97 |
In The Table , sample 1 has a clove essential oil content of 0, which is an LDPE film without essential oil added, and can be regarded as a control sample. As the mass fraction of clove essential oil increased to 3%, the tensile strength of the LDPE film increased slightly. This phenomenon may be due to the fact that the active substances in the essential oil of clove strengthen the force between the molecules of the film and increase its tensile strength. At the same time, the molecular chains are closer together, which increases the difficulty for water molecules to pass through to a certain extent.
Related test cases and literature research
In the article "Study on the Fresh-keeping Effect of Plant Essential Oil-EVOH Active Packaging Film on Grass Carp and Fish Meat", Yang Hui, School of Food Science and Technology, Shanghai Ocean University, and others used 2% grape seed oil, 2% clove oil, 1% grape seed oil + 1% clove oil As the active ingredient, the ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer is the base film material, and the active fresh-keeping film is prepared by extrusion blow molding through blending, blow molding and other processes. Use Link Testing LTS-05S intelligent electronic tensile testing machine to investigate the tensile strength of the film. The fresh-keeping effect of grass carp fish under refrigeration (4±1)℃ was evaluated. The results show that the active film made of 1% grape seed essential oil + 1% clove essential oil active ingredients has the best preservation effect on fish meat, keeping grass carp fish fresh for 8 days at (4±1)℃
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