Study of New Antibacterial Packaging Systems through the Monitoring of Shelf Life Markers.

The specific objectives of this project were: 1) to characterize the preservation efficiency - biogenic amines and microbial load- of commercial available packaging materials (multilayer packaging with metal layer) in 8 different ways on raw and cooked ham; 2) to study the correlation between biogenic amines and microorganisms, ATP and microorganisms in different foods; to select the appropriate shelf life markers of raw chicken meat and ham; 3) to select probiotic bacteria with potential food application and optimize fermentation conditions; 4) to obtain the effectiveness of ATP as a shelf life marker in modified packaging, and to examine L. plantarum cell-free supernatant to be used as part of antibacterial packaging for extending ham shelf-life; 5) to prepare and evaluate different prototypes PLA/paper packages with addition of graphene-based composite, probiotic bacteria – L. plantarum IMC 509 - on raw chicken meat. The general introduction (Chapter 1) provides a general background in concept of antibacterial packaging and shelf life, the important role of packaging and biological indicators. The feasibility of Lactic acid bacteria and graphene as bacteriostatic agents for improved packaging were highlighted, as well as the application background of BA and ATP as shelf life markers. Chapter 2 – formation of biogenic amines and growth of spoilage-related microorganisms in the refrigerated ham with different commercial packages; Chapter 3 – determination of ATP-related compounds in dry-cured ham by HPLC; Chapter 4 – study on the antibacterial activity and fermentation of Lactic acid bacteria and metabolites; Chapter 5 – determination of ATP-related compounds by HPLC to study the effect of cell-free supernatants of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum on the shelf life of sliced dry-cured ham; Chapter 6 – assessment of shelf-life of chicken breast meat stored in the novel composite graphene and probiotic paper-PLA packaging; Chapter 7 – general discussion and summary.