PHYSICO-CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF AGAR/SILVER NANOCOMPOSITE FILMS INTENDED FOR FOOD PACKAGING APPLICATION

Abstract

In this work, antimicrobial agar based nanocomposite films containing silver nanoparticles were prepared. For the synthesis, a masterbatch of in situ stabilized silver nanoparticles produced in agar solution was used. The incorporation of silver nanoparticles improved the mechanical and water vapor barrier resistance of films, in comparison to the neat agar film without silver. Agar/Ag films showed high antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans. The migration of silver nanoparticles from the agar films, assessed by food contact tests, was less than 0.05 mg/g which is under the legal limits. These results indicated that the agar films incorporated with silver nanoparticles have potential to be used as packaging material.