Assessment of the antimicrobial activity of potentially active substances (nanoparticled and non-nanoparticled) against cheese-derived micro-organisms

This study evaluated the antimicrobial potential of various naturally occurring substances, for use as active agents in cheese packaging. Sorbic acid and benzoic acid were examined as standard-sized and nanoparticled solutions. Rosemary, curcumin and ascorbic acid were employed as nanoparticled solutions only, while non-nanoparticled chitosan, of two molecular weights, were also selected for evaluation. All agents were assessed against micro-organisms derived from cheese. Chitosan proved to be the most effective, with low molecular weight chitosan performing best. The most antimicrobial nanoparticle was found to be rosemary. Comparison of normal- and nanoparticle-sized organic acid solutions showed little difference in terms of antimicrobial properties.