**5.1 Application of EOs in the food industry: current trends**

The creation of active packaging utilizing sustainable and eco-friendly materials is currently gaining popularity [28]. It has been demonstrated that cutting-edge active packaging can increase the shelf life of food items and slow down the growth of some germs. The creation of biocomposite systems based on synthetic or natural biopolymers can be used to attain these advantages. According to several sources, edible packaging has grown in favor among customers since edible films or coatings can be consumed along with food in addition to extending the shelf life of food products [29]. However, further research has shown that few films can actually be consumed (while others can just decay more quickly) and that customers will only accept edible films if they perceive them to be safe [30]. These packaging methods can include elements that are meant to be immobilized at the film, released into food, or able to absorb spoiled-food-causing chemicals [31]. Packaging shields food from dehydration and serves as a gas barrier from the environment, among other reasons. The active ingredients antimicrobials, antioxidants, texture enhancers, and essential nutrients, among others, can be transported using edible films. Additionally, these qualities can be improved by adding active ingredients to the films, such as EOs.


#### **Table 1.**

*Essential oils (EOs) and respective antimicrobial activity as potential food preservatives.*

*Flavoring and Coating Technologies for Processing Methods, Packaging Materials… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109542*

Food and beverage packaging systems (edible films) can contain EOs as an extra ingredient that is either applied directly to the edible films or encapsulated within the edible films. For instance, different amounts of EOs from *Origanum vulgare* and *Eugenia caryophyllata* were incorporated into cassava bagasse–polyvinyl alcoholbased trays. EOs were incorporated into the trays in two ways, directly by adding them into the mixture of ingredients at proportions 6.5, 8.5, and 10.0% (*w/w*) or by coating the surface with EOs at concentrations 2.5, 5.0, and 7.5 g oil/100 g tray. The greatest EOs concentrations produced the best results, particularly for *O. vulgare*, which completely inhibited molds, yeasts, and a small number of Gram-positive and negative bacteria, exhibiting entire suppression or a significant reduction in bacterial viability [32].

EOs from plants including jasmine, rosemary, peppermint, cinnamon, oregano, thyme, cumin, eucalyptus, rosewood, clove, tea tree, palmarosa, geranium, lavender, lemongrass, mandarin, bergamot, or lemon have been utilized in packaging systems rather frequently. Food items like fresh beef, butter, fresh octopus, ham, and fish can be found in the food matrices where packaging technologies with EOs have been used [3]. Regarding their major identified components, they belong to the hydrocarbon monoterpenes, such as \_-pinene, \_-pinene, \_-selinene, and p-cymene, or the oxygenated monoterpenes group, such as thymol, carvacrol, geraniol, borneol, eugenol, linalool, terpineol-4-ol, 1,8-cineole, \_-terpinyl acetate, and camphor [13–15, 33]. Another study analyzed the varying levels of certain significant hydrocarbons and oxygenated monoterpenes found in EOs. These substances had an antibacterial impact on *Listeria monocytogenes* and *E. coli* when used at a concentration of 0.2 g/mL


#### **Table 2.**

*Recent illustrations of active films with EOs as the primary constituents demonstrate the benefits of the packaged food product.*

and a pH of 4.0. The results of this study demonstrated that oxygenated monoterpenes had a stronger antibacterial impact than hydrocarbon ones. In actuality, these molecules' efficacy was tested in orange or apple juice together with heat treatments, and the results showed a synergistic fatal effect against *E. coli* [14].

Therefore, the objective of food packaging including biodegradable materials and EOs is to conduct antioxidant and antimicrobial assays to assess the final packaging system in contact with the food matrix and to produce reliable results. **Table 2** lists some of the most recent tests conducted on films containing EOs for novel food packaging solutions.
