Development Of Bacterial Cellulose Loaded with Pediococcus acidilactici Postbiotics as an Antimicrobial Food Packaging

Abstract

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a promising packing material as it is biodegradable, non-toxic, has good mechanical properties, and can form bonds with foreign particles. Meanwhile, P. acidilactici postbiotics (metabolites) have the potential to be a natural food preservative as they contain antimicrobial compounds that are heat- and pH-stable. This research aims to develop a novel antimicrobial food packaging by loading P. acidilactici postbiotics into BC. The loading time of postbiotics into BC and the drying time of postbiotics-loaded BC were optimized. The antimicrobial activity of the postbiotics-loaded BC against Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, and Listeria monocytogenes was also evaluated on chicken breast. BC had to be immersed in postbiotics for 8 h and dried at 60°C for 3 h to transform it into an antimicrobial food packaging. Our postbiotics-loaded BC managed to reduce EHEC, S. typhimurium, and S. aureus counts by ~1-1.5 log CFU/g, ~1.5-2.5 log CFU/g, and ~1 log CFU/g, respectively, compared to the controls after storage at 4°C for 15 days, suggesting the potential of our postbiotics-loaded BC to enhance the safety and extend the shelf life of chicken breast. However, our postbiotics-loaded BC changed the pH, texture, and color of the chicken due to the high lactic acid content in the postbiotics. Recommendations include finding an optimal dilution of P. acidilactici postbiotics to be loaded into BC that could still exhibit antimicrobial activity without changing the organoleptic properties of the chicken breast and testing the postbiotics-loaded BC on L. monocytogenes in chicken breast.