GRAFOOD: ‘Active GRAphene based FOOD packaging system for a modern society’.

The most investigated new preservation technologies for food are new packaging systems such as modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) and active packaging (AP), which use natural antimicrobials for biopreservation. AP is the incorporation of specific compounds into packaging systems that interact with the internal environment to maintain or increase product quality and shelf life of food. AP functions and technologies include moisture control, O2 scavengers or absorbers, CO2 controllers, odor controllers, antimicrobial and antioxidant agents, either natural or synthetic [1]. In this regard, packaging such as Ag/TiO2–SiO2-paper and Ag/N–TiO2-paper can find their applicability for extending the shelf life of white bread by 2 days as compared with the unmodified paper-package [2]. The literature reports the including of nanostructured TiO2 and Ag in paper, plastic, cellulose, chitosan, vegetable films in order to obtain efficient and safe food packages. Graphene oxide has shown high antibacterial activity against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. The bacterial cellulose functionalized with graphene oxide showed a strong antimicrobial effect on Saccharomyces cerevisiae due to the effective direct contact between the nanofillers of the composites and the cell surfaces. The morphology of the nanocomposites has a great effect on physico-chemical properties and the interactions between the microorganism and the nanocomposites. By coating the graphene oxide with Ag nanoparticles, antimicrobial nanocomposites against the Gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonous aeruginosa) were synthesized. Probiotic lactobacilli (L. rhamnosus IMC 501® and L. paracasei IMC 502®) have a great potential to produce antimicrobial compounds that inhibit and control the microbial pathogen growth [3]. The aim of this work is to evaluate the new active packaging systems based on graphene oxide and probiotic microorganisms to preserve perishable food such as meat and cheese. The performances of new packaging systems have been evaluated by monitoring chemical, microbiological and sensorial parameters of wrapped food in comparison with commercial packaging.