Antimicrobial mechanism of nanocellulose composite packaging incorporated with essential oils

Cellulose nanofibers (CNF) and nanocrystalline cellulose (CNC) are biopolymers with abundant natural availability, biodegradable, non-toxic, and renewable, isolated from lignocellulosic plants or biosynthesized by microbes. Because of the large surface-to-volume ratio, nanocellulose (NC) has unique physicochemistry properties such as surface chemistry, high crystallinity, mechanical strength, and morphology in nanometer structures, improving nanocomposites packaging characteristics such as coatings, nanofillers, and thin films. To produce NC-based antimicrobial packaging, essential oils (EOs)-based antimicrobial agents (oregano, allyl isothiocyanate, and eugenol) have demonstrated their potential functions. Incorporating NC with EOs will impact packaging characteristics, namely a reduction in transparency, a decrease in the water vapor transmission rate, and the volatile compounds release rate. There are physicochemical changes in the resulting antimicrobial nanocomposite depending on the oil type. In addition, the antimicrobial packaging development based on NC composites that include EOs needs to consider aspects of product sensory, antioxidant benefits, preparation method, toxicity, aromatherapy effect, sensitivity to water, and cost. The EOs antimicrobial mechanism is also discussed.