Incorporating cinnamon and oregano essential oils (EO) into
certain plastics provides antimicrobial properties, new research
into active packaging has found. But the study from a group of
Spanish scientists concluded the main factor inhibiting growth
of bacteria and moulds was related not to the total amount of
active chemical released but instead to when these compounds
reached the surface of material – known as the critical time.
The type of packaging material used also played an important
role in the efficacy of the antimicrobial performance. Based on
a growing use of natural antimicrobials of plant origin, the
team selected cinnamon and oregano as previous research had
suggested the essential oils contained compounds that made them
the most effective among these substances. The antimicobial
constituent of cinnamon is the compound cinnamaldahyde – which
is believed to have the highest anti-fungal activity among
aliphatic aldenhydes. Carvacrol and thymol are the relevant
compounds in oregano, said the resea