Evaluation of PVA / Leucaena Leucocephala blends film for antimicrobial properties using beef meat model

Abstract

Active food packaging refers to food packaging that are incorporated with components such as antimicrobial agents that would release or absorb substances into or from the packaged food which would maintain or prolong the shelf life of the food while maintaining their quality and safety. Generally, awareness of conventional plastic products which are non-biodegradable creates a huge damage to the environment should be increased. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is one of the most well-known synthetic biodegradable polymer and possess an excellent mechanical properties. Therefore in this research, an attempt is made by incorporating Leucaena Leucocephala to the PVA film to enhance the antimicrobial activity and the degradation rate of the film. This project aims to study the effectiveness of the best PVA/ L.Leucocephala blends film produced. Different various test such as Total Viable Count, Coliform Count and Total Chlorophyll Content will be carried out to determine the effectiveness of the antimicrobial properties of the film by using beef meat model. The results obtained from the research were compared with pure PVA coated-film meat model. In this project, the strength of the film produced were tested by performing tensile test. Besides, the functional groups present in the films were identified by using Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and the surface morphology and structure of the films were shown by Scanning Electron Microscopy analysis. As a result of this research, 15% PVA/L.leucocephala leaves blend film were shown as the best antimicrobial film with the lowest microbial concentration compared to the other films. However, the tensile strength and elongation at break decreased with the additional of L.leucocephala leaves compared to pure PVA film. The FTIR results proved the presence of celluloses content in the film after additional of the L.leucocephala leaves. The morphology revealed the distribution of L.leucocephala leaves in the PVA film. In general, it was found that biodegradable film from PVA/L.leucocephala leaves is a potential eco-friendly polymer that can be replace with non-degradable plastics materials.