Green and Healthier Alternatives to Chemical Additives as Cheese Preservative: Natural Antimicrobials in Active Nanopackaging/Coatings

Abstract

The side effects and potential impacts on human health by traditional chemical additives as food preservatives (i.e., potassium and sodium salts) are the reasons why novel policies are encouraged by worldwide public health institutes. More natural alternatives with high antimicrobial efficacy to extend shelf life without impairing the cheese physicochemical and sensory quality are encouraged. This study is a comprehensive review of emerging preservative cheese methods, including natural antimicrobials (e.g., vegetable, animal, and protist kingdom origins) as a preservative to reduce microbial cheese contamination and to extend shelf life by several efforts such as manufacturing ingredients, the active ingredient for coating/packaging, and the combination of packaging materials or processing technologies. Essential oils (EO) or plant extracts rich in phenolic and terpenes, combined with packaging conditions and non-thermal methods, generally showed a robust microbial inhibition and prolonged shelf life. However, it impaired the cheese sensory quality. Alternatives including EO, polysaccharides, polypeptides, and enzymes as active ingredients/nano-antimicrobials for an edible film of coating/nano-bio packaging showed a potent and broad-spectrum antimicrobial action during shelf life, preserving cheese quality parameters such as pH, texture, color, and flavor. Future opportunities were identified in order to investigate the toxicological effects of the discussed natural antimicrobials' potential as cheese preservatives.

Keywords: antimicrobial coatings; biobased materials; biopackaging materials; biopolymers; cheese shelf-life; edible coatings; edible films; nano-antimicrobials; polyphenols; polysaccharides.

Figure 1

The publications per year according to the research database’s string search: ((“natural antimicrobials” OR “essential oils” OR “bioactive compounds”) AND (packaging OR coating OR nanopackaging) AND cheese).

Figure 2

Antimicrobial mechanisms of Moringa oleifera bioactive compounds: (A) Protein damage-triggered by benzyl isothiocyanates bioconjugation with cysteine. (B) Membrane dysfunction-triggered by saponins complex formation with cholesterol. (C) Bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects of flavonoids.

Figure 3

Antimicrobial action triggered by monoterpenoid compounds from basil, oregano, and rosemary essential oils: damaging cell membrane integrity and inhibiting a mitochondrial respiratory chain complex.

Figure 4

Antimicrobial action of polysaccharides, polypeptides, and lysozyme: membrane permeability alteration and hydrolysis of peptidoglycans in the microbial cell wall by electrostatic interactions.